Twas a Pacific rainstorm - it dropped several inches in a few hours ... Some of the PU coated tents the other campers had failed miserably as well. It pays to have the right gear.
Non-breathable tent coatings can pass water? haha Now there's a new concept for me to digest, so I checked the hydrostatic rating of my 2010 Golite silnylon poncho tarp. 1200mm! It was a soaking waiting to happen--no better than Tyvek! Fortunately, I never found myself in it during a heavy storm on my thru-hike (thank god that one night in Maine I was in a shelter and not under that tarp. Even the shelter leaked that night) My down bag would have been soaked.
I'll never buy another piece of rain gear again without checking the rating first. Holy cow, only 1200mm. Thanks for the heads up.
I think you are making some mistaken assumptions here. The problems with the tents were that they were cheap - very cheap car camping tents are frequently rated 600mm and not seam sealed, and it was mostly coming through seams.
1300mm silnylon endured a couple hours of downpour in Evolution Valley this past summer without a leak or a single drip - I have a great little Lightheart Solo tent that withstood it wonderfully. I seam sealed it before going out with it per mfr suggestion. However, in other conditions, such as last weekend on the coast (Point Reyes) where humidity was high and the ground muddy after 9 inches of rain over the past weeks, no one escaped heavy condensation inside and outside the tents - not the PU coated tents, not my tent, not the tarp. All were wet inside and out. But fortunately we know how to handle condensation.
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