Hey Sara,
I bought the HF serpent before I went away to Uganda, as the old school one I had, definitely wouldn't have held up to the volume of water and whirlpools.
Couple of points,
1. I find it has plenty of buoyancy and fits really well out of water - nice and low profile.
2. HOWEVER, once submersed the strapping system seems a bit suspect (IMHO), as I felt while swimming
the BA tended to really want to rise up my chest, perhaps you being a girl and having certain appendages, the BA wouldn’t be able to rise as much. Either way, you certainly have to tighten it in a particular order i.e. bottom straps first, then quick release strap, then shoulder straps.
ABOVE problem is especially noticeable when the quick release strap is undone . . . i.e. If you've had a problem doing a rescue, release and then swim - I'd be slightly wary of this.
Also if you over tighten the quick release strap it has a tendency to become undone by rubbing against the material beside the pocket - again be careful.
3. I found the pocket a little on the small side possibly due to its wedge shape, by the time I had an open sling and river knife in it I hadn't any space left for mars bars, sun cream stick or sun glasses - you got to look cool
4. It has a zip, though I didn't use it as it too much hassle rethreading the straps each time but it would be quite helpful for move ability of the BA if you dislocated either shoulder.
The other BA I was thinking of getting at the time was the Astral 300R, though this is a bit on the pricey side - hence why I went for the HF serpent. The astral BA is savage and if you have the money I'd definitely go for this - it fits better, well me anyway, the Z-Strap is bomber and its got huge pockets and incorporates the fleece hand warmers for the Boyne
as far as I remember the only downside to this BA was the fact that the stitching in the integrated belay loop had a tendency to loosen and tear after use, though even in the cases where this happened the belay loop maintained its integrity - pretty important if you were in the middle of an abseil.
Anyway hope this helps
Sean
ps, I bought my buoyancy from
www.suescanoes.co.uk they deliver free of charge from the U.K. and when on sale the HP serpent was €150 to my door. I think it would save you a bout a tenner plus postage even now.
