It depends on what you want out of a poncho. I see two main reasons to carry a poncho.
- Do-everything rain protection, shelter, possibly a ground cloth. Here the military or polyurethane impregnated products rule if you want something tough, and the silnylon/spinntex/cuben fiber for something light. All of these are great for a makeshift tarp or to supplement an existing tarp.
- primarily rain protection while hiking, with some alternative uses. This is how I usually use a poncho. In this case, comfort for hiking is paramount. I've done a lot of hiking in the woods in Georgia, and honestly, a perfectly waterproof poncho doesn't do much good when it's over 9000% humidity and 80 degrees. Instead of being soaked from reasonably clean rain, you get soaked with nasty, grimy, slimy sweat. Pretty disgusting. For that reason, as a primary rain protection poncho, I LOVE my driducks. It's not very tough at all, and I would be scared to use it as a tarp in really windy conditions, but it BREATHES like no other product I've ever used. That breathability keeps you from sweating as much, and keeps you cooler under the poncho on hot days. And while I wouldn't use it as a tarp, it's great for other backup uses, like an undercover to keep my hammock underquilt dry after I've set up camp. In those cases, I'm carrying a separate, dedicated tarp for my hammock anyway, so the odds of needing to use my poncho as a tarp are very low.
The driducks rips really easily, so if you're doing a lot of bushwacking or hiking on really narrow trails, it might not be ideal. For most well-beaten paths, though, it's the most comfortable rain protection gear I've used, in terms of preventing overheating and sweating. Lots and lots of people who thru-hike the AT swear by the driducks gear - either the ponchos or the rain suits. Yeah, they rip, but you can patch them with duct tape, and they will be far more comfortable for covering lots of mileage.
They are also cheap as dirt.
:grumpy::barf: