Raingear that works question
Our group of 4 people in our late 50's completed the West Highland Way during the first week of June. We went Inn to Inn, which was perfect for us. We genuinely loved the trip and the experience. However, we had two all day rains to hike through. No problem, because we thought we had the equipment including rain jackets, pants, gaiters, pack covers, and waterproof boots. Well by the end of each day (middle of it honestly), we were all soaked to the bone.
I could ring my shirt out. Everything in our packs was soaked (we did line the packs after the first day of rain with a trash bag inside). This was a shock to us. We have done a lot of hiking and backpacking over the last two decades in the western US, but it's mostly desert and never had to deal with the rain like that. We expected to stay dry in our gear. We did not.
So what should we do differently in the future to better prepare for wet conditions? We had high quality rain gear we thought. We did not skimp on it. What is the answer to staying dry, or is it just impossible when hiking in 6-8 hours of rain?