I'm an abnormal sailor in that I've been issued a lot of the kit talked about above....
From the "rubber" rain gear I was issued in Cornwallis where we painted the seams with silicon to seal it.
To the Yellow Canary suits on a half dozen ships, and a couple of hemispheres.
To the US Army rubber rain jacket from the mid '90s that was the "cat's meow" at the time (you didn't need to seal the seams!!! that was pre-done!)
I have the current nylon-ish green rain-gear with my green kit, and was delighted at the temporary issue of a set of the new Gore-tex gear when I went to Bisley in '08 (borrowed from the Airforce and had to return it....)
I now have a grey stealth-suit that goes nicely under green gear.
I've tried a lot of different options out, and of the various issued pieces of gear, in various bits of weather from North Atlantic, to Mediterranian to Baltic, to Persian Gulf, to Gagetown, Pet, the UK, and various spots in between, the universality that I've noted between EVERY one of these pieces of gear, was that at some point, I got wet.
No matter how "good" the rain gear was, I got wet.
In '09 in Bisley, my preffered "rain" gear was my Stealth suit upper, over a wicking fiber shirt, under my combats, with the body armour on top to act as a nice warm vest, my tac-vest riding on top of that, and when I had the opportunity to stand up off the firing point, I'd put a rain jacket over top just to help keep some of the heat in.
I got soaked. To the bone. To the point that I have a photo of me pouring the water out of my shooting log book. Except for my upper body. My core stayed dry, so I stayed warm. The wicking fiber drew a bit of the wet up from my pants, but not much.
I accept the fact that when the rain comes, the only parts of me that I want to keep dry are the lenses of my glasses, and keep the heat into my upper body a bit.
Having been issued all that kit, none of it has kept me "dry". Over the years, it's progressively gotten better at keeping me "less wet", but never dry.
Should the Navy invest in some new rain gear? Sure. When we have some money it'd be a fine idea.
In the meantime, I've got my stealth suit handy. Thank-you RCR Kit-shop!
NS