It is my opinion that staying dry is not the be-all and end-all of anyone's hiking experience. I cannot of course call upon any formal research to support my view, I have only my own experience to go by, but I maintain that rain does not happen as much as some people/organisations believe or suggest. So if I just take my personal experience of the last 10 years, I had days when it rained, I had days when it rained hard and possibly I had days when it rained all-day as well, but my memory of those days tells me that it rarely if ever rained at the same intensity all of the time. So from my viewpoint and learning from my past experience, shelling out as I did about 7-8 years ago over £200 for a keep-me-dry-jacket (which didn't keep me dry, I was still wet inside through condensation) was just a waste of money! And don't forget, even after buying the jacket I then had to add the cost of how to keep my legs and bum dry as well.
So I decided to beat rain at the cheapest and most effective cost that I could think of and to spend the money that I'd saved on more important items of clothing, that is when it's dry and not raining. If I want to buy another expensive jacket I can, but for me, the question is, what is the point? When its raining I don't care what I look like I just want to be dry!
My jacket is not perfect but it does the job well, for me its just a prototype, to prove to myself that my thinking and practice is sound. I hope that one day I can find the real jacket that I am looking for, properly designed for wet weather rather than, as I see it being a fashion statement for me. The nearest answer to what I am looking for at the moment is the Marmot Precip, single skinned, cheapish, but for me as a design is just a bit too short! I would still need to purchase something extra to keep my legs dry.