LOL!
When it comes to water-proof shells, you typically get what you pay for. But the logo costs an additional $100 or so - LOL! but seriously, look at the Marmot Minimalist with Gore-tex
SL. It costs approx$200. now look at Arcteryx with same material and it costs upwards of $300.
Need to shop for good value, depending on what you need them for and how long you want them to last.
Typically, Gore-tex jackets are more expensive but are more durable than the other "proprietary" waterproof-breathable fabrics, and guaranteed against material failure under normal use. After all, Gore-tex is teflon, same stuff on cookware we pour oil on, heat up and cool down, scrape, wash, over and over. The membrane itself barely breaks down - points of failure are: (a) Adhesive that makes it stick to the nylon fabric or, (b) the tape that seals the seams.
Examples:
1) Yetix's Marmot above has been around since the 90's,
2) My The North Face Mountain Light, bought in 1996 is still in excellent condtion,
3) My well-used late-90's TNF Kitchatna was in decent condition until last year when seam tape started to delaminate. I could fix that myself but TNF replaced with brand-new jacket. However, I find TNF too "styling" and baggy so my go-to now is trim-fitting Arcteryx^^^.
4) I had an Arcteryx Alpha SV from 2004 where seam tapes have delaminated. Around 2016 Arcteryx replaced that with a brand-new one under warranty.
The Sub-$200 waterproof-breathable rain jackets typically use inferior "proprietary" coatings like, "Elements", Hyvent, Membrain, etc. I've seen those go bad in a couple of years, and I don't know how good warranty is on those.
Arcteryx is typically very expensive, but rightfully so because of its attention to detail, and workmanship. PLUS the cost of the logo, of course.
Example:
Look at the Marmot Minimalist or The North Face models. It have hip pockets that add bulk or sore points, and will be rendered useless under a backpack hip-belt.
Look at any Arcteryx climbing/backpacking jacket, and you would not find same hip pockets. They'd either have chest-level pockets or Napoleon pockets that are accessible even with a backpack and/or climbing harness on.
Being in So Cal is in fact a good reason why one should dress in layers. When one is active when there's precipitation, a rain jacket with built-in insulation would get too hot, so a shell would be the way to go. When one stops moving, he would get cold so he'd need to add an insulating layer.
