I think you missed the point. In his original post, he suggested one could not ride a brooks in the rain, and later he mentioned the sun. He also apparently wants to avoid wearing chamois. So he has an excess concert with things that aren't a problem, and a lot of us would answer his question about other saddle types as no. Particularly when it comes to not wearing lined shorts or trousers. So his only salvation lies in getting with the maintenance program. Also, a lot of gel saddles and alternatives are not going to survive the fender eating brush he seems to prefer.

I think that in general one can survive short distances, say under 40 miles on a lot of saddles, but beyond that I am at a loss, other than Brooks. There are many people who can't find a Brooks comfortable at all. I would not risk getting sensitized through another saddle if I already had one that worked great, I just wasn't up to speed on maintenance. Bikes in general need messy, time consuming, maintenance. Plus one has to pedal hard. Then there is that whole setting up camp thing, cooking, tearing down camp, and the general lack of butlers.