I’ll probably give the Driducks a try, since it won’t break my budget.

I learned about Driducks for backpacking, because they’re lighter than any other rain gear you can buy and actually work reasonably well when you’re exerting yourself as well as when you’re in camp. Their sizing is very large, but that’s good because it allows them to ventilate well, they don’t have any actual vents. The cheaper one actually ventilates better due to the button closures and the lack of elastic at the wrist and waistband. They’re sold around here at hunting supply stores (what you called “sporting goods stores” there in Floriduh before, apparently, they all went out of business). Their Achilles heel is, again, durability. A week’s worth of hiking and they start looking like duct tape jackets. Thus why I invested in a REI EVENT jacket, which works better than Gore-Tex. Usually the only place that gets wet is my lower arms, mostly because of water wicking up the sleeve. But for around town, where you aren’t getting snagged by bushes and brambles, the Dri-Ducks work even better than EVENT (I *never* got wet in the Dri-Ducks) and are decidedly much cheaper.

I have a waxed cotton fedora for the winter that works a treat.

I think that just wearing cotton and ignoring rain is the best solution for the interim.

The saved the skin of me and my men in Cambodia, and work great down under! 😉 😀

Hey… they were good enough for your Prez and the other APEC Leaders when they were here. Just sayin… LOL

Oh, and top it off with an Akubra Hat, worn by world leaders and most of Hollywood for decades! LOL

Well, I pretty much figured out that Gore-Tex didn’t work by wearing the sucker and getting sweat-soaked, so I stopped wearing it. I forget how I got it, probably a gift, but I know I didn’t buy it, especially after looking at what the thing costs retail. For the prices there should have been a couple of fitting involved and my name embroidered on the inside.

Driducks seem to have two types, so I may try the more expensive, but apparently more durable type, or just start wearing a wetsuit.

EVENT and Driducks’ non-woven PE fabric use a different mechanism. They omit the polyester coating entirely, allowing water vapor to pass right through the fine mesh of the fabric, which is however too fine to allow liquid water to come through. They work *much* better than Gore-Tex, which is 99.9% hype. Well, while they’re clean, anyhow. Once the pores get clogged with dirt they’re useless. But that’s when you wash them.

The doggie method requires loose skin and hair, so I’m out of luck.

Yeah, I have a ‘golf’ umbrella for those events, but my hat is most of the ‘protection’ I need. If it was cold, I have a Land’s End slicker with a fleece lining, but that isn’t appropriate for July and August.

What we really need is a rain repulsion device, but it would probably attract a lightning discharge, so cotton clothes and boat shoes are the best choice overall.