Great jack of all trades hiker - Salewa Moutain Trooper Mid Leather Hiking Boots - Men's

If you're looking for one boot to do just about everything then this will not disappoint. I'll start with the only negative I have - The use of nylon loops at the top to secure the laces vs the traditional 'hooks'. Makes getting the boots on and off a little bit more of a process and the only reason I can see doing this is to shave production cost, as the added weight of metal hooks is negligible.

I'm still giving 5 stars despite the above comment because they perform in every other aspect that matters. I've put over 100 miles on them after owning for a few months so I can pretty confidently endorse the quality after some wear-in. I'm mostly doing 4-10 mile wet winter hikes in the cascades without much of a load. I loved the look of these blacked-out version and they look great in person too. With rinsing them off after each hike, they still look pretty new and hold the color. The tread is a great and looks like it will hold up for a long time (had my last pair of boots for 10 years and hoping for the same from these). The weight is not very noticeable but obviously these are not 'fast & light' hikers. The leather tongue is very high quality, not some cheap version that wears easily. The suede upper is surprising durable without showing much wear after cleaning. I've had no heal rubbing, even out of the box, wearing just some medium hiking crew wool socks. The only discomfort I experience was some rubbing on my outer pinky toes for the first 20 miles of break in. I have average width feet so I attribute to normal break in. Have not had any issues after the initial break-in. I'm a true size 9 in just about every manufacturer and these were no different. If you've had any of the other MTN Trainers, the fit should be the same.

If you can't afford a bevy of boots and are looking for a one-size-fits-all, this is your boot. Or if you can and you just want a kicka$$ all-black pair, then the same goes.