Coincidentally, I've always tended to use leather boots in the past, eg Meindl Burma, Scarpa SLM3, Scarpa SLActiv, but for summer/autumn day walks was finding them a bit on the heavy side and they were exacerbating my metatarsalgia. In spring last year, I got a pair of Salomon Quest Prime GTX and used them throughout summer/autumn until the snow arrived - I still use Scarpa M3 for camping trips and the Scarpa Activs for winter/snow though. I find the Salomons to have good grip, they're comfortable and I don't (touch wood) seem to suffer from the metatarsalgia anywhere near as much. The salomons coped with various trips, mainly corbetts and donalds, including three days in a row on corbetts in varying conditions and some steep inclines. They kept my feet dry as well. One negative is that when they get wet on the outside, they take a lot longer to dry than leather boots. Also, one of the bottom lace loops broke after a few trips but Cotswold just replaced the boots for me. I'm not sure if they'll last as long as a good leather boot but they were cheaper, lighter and more comfortable - cheers
