Svn interoperability

How do you guys work with projects using svn?  I personally can't stand it, I much prefer git, and probably mercurial to svn.  So when I do work with svn projects I often use git-svn.  The only problem with this, is that it can't handle svn:externals, which unfortunately a project relies on.

Therefore, what do you guys use to work with svn projects and does it support svn:externals? (besides svn of course)

I just get it right the first time.  It's a waste of resources and time to do it otherwise.