I've owned several pairs of Merrell hiking boots over the years and these have little in common with any of them. The uppers of these boots appear to consist of 3 pieces: the tongue, which is nicely padded, the upper, which is nylon and thinly padded, and a single, large seemingly dye-cut piece of synthetic rubber material that wraps around the entire boot. No leather or suede anywhere. The boots I received do not look anything like those illustrated on the Amazon website. The soles, which are labeled "Quantum Grip", are made of a soft, almost sticky rubber and do, indeed, provide excellent grip. The insoles, which are removable, provide good padding and the arch is in exactly the right place.The shoes are very light in weight and suitable for day hiking only: I'd not chance any kind of backpacking trip wearing these.Mine run narrower than previous Merrells so I ordered a half size larger and they fit OK. There could be more room in the toe box.Time will tell whether these are durable but I will be careful to use these for trail-based day hikes only and I will not expose them to too much rocky terrain nor carry too much weight when using them.