I to have the Bison Gear pack, which I like. It's wool...I'm sure there are great synthetic options.
Rain Jackets: I'm biased against gortex and similar style jackets. I have had all of my properly treated goretex jackets and boots fail after several years. Including expensive North Face gortex jackets. Great the first few years but after that, if it's a really long day in the rain (I live in the pacific northwest) then it lets in moisture. And I do maintain them properly
I decided to forgo breathability for true waterproofness and not much money, IE: Helly Hansen - Impurtech. It's light weight and 100 % water proof. I love it. Steep hikes, just unzip the front to cool down.
Yeah, I sweat more in Impurtech than goretex but as I"m not wearing any cotton, only a wisk away layer against the skin, followed by wool layers, the sweat dries fast.
If it's gotta breath, then I'm back to wool layers and some type of Gortex (or similar) shell.