fabric breathability

You might want to specify waterproof or not.

There is no reason why you need to create multiple threads on this topic. This has been reported.

there are lots of threads about breathability. Ranking materials 1,2,3 isn’t always easy because there are different methodologies for measuring breathability, and fabrics perform slightly differently depending on the test. When it comes to membrane based WPB, I believe eVENT is the undisputed leader today. In cold weather, so of the directional clothing from the UK is pretty good.

The other thing to remember is that when many people talk about breathabiity they often talk about water vapor transmission, but something that has as much, if not more correlation to how people feel is air permeability. This is why tightly woven softshells are often quite useful. I have a small collection of links to some of the better BPL threads / articles and some other related links on my recommended shells page.

–mark

Mark brings up a good point. What one person defines as breathable may be completely unbreathable to another person, and they'd both be right.

Doug,
Your OP is a litte confusing, but it sounds like you want to know either what materials are the most breathable, OR, what highly water resistant materials are the most breathable.

For the former, check out Richard Nisley's many posts here on porosity of materials.

For the latter, check out Alan Dixon's article here on WPB materials. Even though it is an older article, the more recent excellent reviews of rain tops on this site suggest there isn't much since Alan's article that is truly new, with the possible exception of a new GTX offering claimed to be much more breathable that hasn't been fully evaluated yet.

One great thing about this site is that if you are willing to put in some search and evaluation time, there are definite answers to be had. Thanks to the many excellent contributions of the members.