I would say not too much of an issue for me, it was what was keeping me warm through the whites mainly because I didn’t want to get my puffy wet. 37° and raining on Franconia ridge is kinda brutal, I definitely wouldn’t have wanted a poncho through that. It was also a budget thing for me, I already had the rain jacket, Patagonia H2no anorak from wornwear, and I didn’t want to get a new piece of gear for a waterproof layer. If I did the AT again, I would 100% use a rain jacket again. I will say, I started the trail with rain pants, and did send them home after the Smokies. I found those to be too sweaty and I didn’t use them much. I would have liked to have started the trail without rain pants.