Have a lot of rain gear with older stuff eventually getting tossed. Do not trust what people usually report on websites about clothing or gear like tents regarding waterproofness. Have read it all and much categorize as BS. People are quick to brag about how their so and so tent or whatever was in a heavy rain blah blah. Well unless someone runs a test like you have WD. Well done gal!
For a tent, if a person fills their bathtub with say a 2 inch depth of water and then gets inside the tent in the bathtub, and reports the tub bottom layers did not leak, then I will believe them. Likewise on the tent walls if one sets up a sprinkler on a lawn and lets it run for say 15 minutes over a tent, then will believe.
As a young adult backpacker I always used cheap coated nylon rain gear instead of the pricy Gortex and eventual other waterproof breathable fabrics. I did learn early that those cheap rain garments were quick to leak after minor use unless they were seam sealed. And were sure to leak after a season or three usually due to wicking at seams and any stressed stitching. And once clothing or gear begins wicking in water even from tiny holes it acts like a siphon pump due to gravity of flowing water on the inside.
Also as a young adult storm alpine skiing enthusiast bought some of the waterproof breathable fabrics of the early eras and found they tended to leak if one spent a few hours on ski resort chairlifts unless they too were seam sealed and even then once the fabric outside layers got wet, the inner surface layers tended to become damp enough the dry clothing underneath would increasingly have a damp surface. Of course the colder the outside material surface temperature the more an inside surface will pick up condensation. The combination of a really wet outside surface and a damp inside surface is unpleasant. If winter camping in sleety conditions that is a disaster and could not say be worn later at night inside a sleeping bag.
Jan 2013 bought one of these heavier duty rain jackets and pants.
http://www.amazon.com/Helly-Hansen-Mens ... 002N15XUQ/
http://www.amazon.com/Helly-Hansen-Mens ... 003PGRNGK/
I've worn it hiking locally during the winter in really heavy rainstorms and it indeed does not leak. The rubbery feeling material jacket in medium size weighs 18 ounces and pants 13 so 2 pounds total thus not something I would bring summer backpacking unless really expecting to hike a lot in storms.
Also this spring bought a heavily discounted North Face Venture rain jacket and a White Sierra Trabagon Rain Pant for summer backpacking since my older Marmot Precip and Sierra Designs coated rainpants had begun to leak and need to be tossed. Given your thread, I wore for about 5 minutes the two in my shower this morning before work and the results were as expected. After getting out of the shower, the inside surfaces of the materials were damp simply from condensation but no wicking.
I also carry a cheap $25 or so coated nylon shell that is my primary garment to wear while lugging my backpack up trails instead of say a t-shirt because mosquitoes cannot poke through it, can open the front for ventilation with the front zipper, and dries off el rapido. Basically a classic wind shell of just a few ounces with side zippered pockets. OK in brief rain but of course not seam sealed. Now out in the backcountry if I am going to be out in rain awhile, I put the cheap shell on over the Venture jacket. That keeps the outside surface of the Venture jacket from getting anything more than a little damp while the inside then just has usual minor condensation issues. If winter camping the Venture jacket would still be very usable to the extent one could wear it inside a sleeping bag to dry out the surfaces. The total weight of the Venture plus nylon shell is less than a pound.
David