i'm debating between a typical USGI style rain poncho or just a really light weight nylon waterproof jacket like these from TAD GEAR......

http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/apparel%20main/prolite.htm

http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/apparel%20main/bug_out_anorak.htm

i just dont know how water repellent these nylon coats can be and repellent being the word because the only thing that is actually water proof and stays water proof is rubber.

i havnt had good experiences with GORE-TEX.

i have the TAD GEAR PREDATOR HARDSHELL 3.0 with the incredible GE eVENT fabric but its a little to heavy for hot,muggy summer hiking.

http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/apparel%20main/predator_hardshell_v3_0.htm

the breath ability and water proofness of this GE eVENT stuff is really impressive.seems to be the most advanced stuff going right now.check this out.i'm imagining thats GORE-TEX on the right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi0DaHQ5ro4

so whats your guys experiences with different water repellent clothing

IMHO, Tad Gear is horribly overpriced mall-ninja gear.

It's expensive, and offers little or no added value over cheaper alternatives, including military surplus gear.

It's marketed to wannabe "operators".

You'll either score points with the boys at the range or they'll shake their heads at the $$$ you spent.

Personally, North Face, Columbia, Helly Hansen, and USGI surplus ECWS as well as German waterproof breathable gear has done fine for me, but I'm not a high speed, low drag operator. Maybe you are...

In my opinion go with the USGI poncho. They are cheaper, can double as a shelter or tarp and breathe better.
Every waterproof coat I have owned does not breathe well. If you want to buy a jacket you will also need to buy a pair of pants. All of the so called Gortex like fabrics require some sort of specail soap or you will wash alway the breathable coating after a few washes.

I have owned high end goretex gear before, here are my thoughts:

its GREAT if you standing around on a film set for 20 hours in the pissing rain. (yea i did that for month). The moment you start moving your going to get wet! from the INSIDE!

get yourself a poncho and let your body BREATH! and you will stay dry.

my rain set up consists of a silnylon seam sealed poncho(which can double as tarp), cheap "trucker" hat sprayed with that shoe water repellent (also make sure the brim aint cardboard), and the driducks pants.


ponchos are great and can keep yer pack dry too!...driducks is pretty sweet too.

eVENT is a sweet material its used in most of the high end bivy bags nowadays. i hear it breathes really good.

I prefer a GI poncho unless it is cold then the gortex is nice. Like BM said, the gortex doesn't breath enough.

This brings up a whole ball of wax...

I have Mountain Hardwear Epic and Marmot Precip rain jackets.
They both are very lightweight and pack into its own pocket.
I have worn them in torrents and stayed completely dry.
They both are very breathable*. Now I have to say,with both of these
jackets,they are waterproof,but they also have a DWR coating on them.
DWR=Durable Water Repellent

You need to read up on DWR and how to take care of it.
1 sitting by the campfire is enough to render the DWR coating useless.
The smoke from the fire clogs the pores.
(very easy to restore with a washing)

Anyway,fleabay has good deals if you watch. I paid
about 30 bucks for each of mine,new.

Anyway,I will never go back to those old,non-breathable raincoats.

(remember,the raincoat will only keep you dry
IF you have it with you.small and packable is a good thing)

Here is actually some good info
on taking care of GoreTex fabric and DWR.
When you have time,do a little reading,its amazing how
easy it is to "fix" that raincoat that the
water doesnt bead up on any more.

http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/faq/index.php

$200 for a raincoat? No thank you. I can buy a hell of a lot of gear for $200. But that's just my opinion of course. My army style poncho works well, let's your body breath and can be used for shelter and a ground sheet. What more do you need?

My gortex cost me all of like 50 bucks for the jacket and pants from a friend that got out of the military. It is the older tri-color too so it works good late fall and winter here in OK.

For ponchos, silnylon will keep you dry from the outside. It's not breathable, though, so if you're sweating, you will stay wet from the moisture you're producing.

If you aren't bush whacking, driducks ponchos are [censored] near waterproof, and breathe well. I like them quite a lot when I'm hiking on a well worn trail, but they suck if you go off trail. The problem is, they are pretty fragile, so if they get snagged on a branch or something, they will probably tear. If I'm carrying a driducks, you can rest assured I'm carrying a bit of duct tape too.

The ponchos really suck because they don't breath at all and you sweat a lot.

I like the USGI gortex raingear, because it works well to keep you from getting wet and it will breath. They are nice to wear in the summer when it rains because you dont sweat too much.

I would try a surplus store to find a USGI Gortex rain jacket.