Here's the thing Mschi, and anyone else, I'm 45 years old and my 4x4 and tire experience started in 1977 when my dad bought his Jeep. I now own my 3rd Jeep.
I have 37 years of experience with Jeeps and tires on Jeeps (HT, AT, MT, and what I'd call a hybrid of AT/MT). Mostly stock Jeeps, though my LJ was brought from stock to modified. I have 27 years experience with cars and passenger car (P) tires.
Some people thought I was a noob when I joined this forum, but really I was only new to this forum, and to modifying XJ specific things, but I'm experienced with 4x4s in general and with tires.
My long experience with tires is both a strength and a weakness. It's a strength for having classic knowledge about things that never change. It can be a weakness if I don't stay up to date.
I live in a rain forest climate that sometimes freezes in Winter, and is wet 7 to 10 months of the year. I am well versed in all season tires. I love AS for cars and they are what most people here use on cars. A few people here use year-round-use snow tires on cars. Currently I am using a year-round use snow tire on my Buick, and it's great, but it reduced my gas mileage from 35 to 32 mpg. So I will put AS tires on my car again (now that I own a Jeep again) when my Winter tires eventually wear out. However, my Hankook Winter I-Pike year-round-use tires are showing no wear after 1.5 years. So I'll be on these tires for a long time.
I've been interested in AS ever since they were invented. I remember when they first became available (many years ago, can't remember exactly when) and I thought they were great. I still think they're the best thing for a wet climate, and I stay current on AS.
Years ago highway tires and all season were different things. It's my historical perspective that makes me sound like HT and AS are two different things. They were two different things. Now in modern times a tire can be both.
I think the Uniroyal tire I recommended is a mix of HT and AS.
From what I've experienced and read: Modern tires that are both HT & AS are great HT and great AS tires, but are NOT Winter traction rated. The HT/AS mix gets get better gas mileage and lasts longer than a Winter rated AS.
The tires that are AS (not HT) are often Winter traction rated, which is important to me, but might not matter to OP.
I never thought of it that way, or put it into that perspective until Mschi's latest post gave me an updated perspective.
An example of a great tire that is both HT & AS is the Uniroyal I recommended. Possibly also some of the tires Mschii recommended. I think the HT he recommended looks like an HT/AS to my eye, and some of the others he recommended look like AS to my eye. I say "to my eye" because I looked at the tread pics, but I'm not familiar with those tires.
A couple years ago I became interested in year-round-use Winter tires, which I think is a relatively new thing within last 5 years or less. At least good ones are a recent thing. I have tried using them on my Buick in place of AS Winter traction rated tires with great success for more Winter traction, more mud traction, and tougher on gravel roads. The Winter tires have been as good on wet pavement as AS tires. The downside of Winter tires is 3 less highway mpg compared to AS. Now that I own a Jeep again, I'll put the Buick back on AS when the Winter tires wear out. However, that will take years because my Hankook year-round-use Winter I-Pike tires are showing no signs of wear after 1.5 years of year-round use.
I'm also well versed in All Terrain tires because that's what I like for DD on Jeeps. Since this is a rain forest climate, mud is a common terrain off road, even on trails. I get into mud even when I'm trying to avoid it. So I've been looking for years for a tire with best possible AT road manners for DD that can handle some mud and be good on Winter roads too. I was in love with Duratrac for the best possible compromise, but now the Hankook ATM and Cooper AT3 are more to my liking because they are (IMO) better on road, good enough in mud, and (IMO) as good on Winter roads.
FYI - Mschi, the word "hybrid" was commonly a few years ago used to describe a tire that is a mix of AT and MT qualities, like the Duratrac. I didn't invent that word. I use it because it was (at one time) the word to use, and still should be, IMO. On Cooper's website, Cooper refers to some of its tires as hybrids. Recently, I've been using the word "mix" instead of "hybrid" so you (Mschi) don't freak out and lose your mind.
I was young, but I remember when ATs first became available. I think it was BFG AT. Up till then, you either used MT, Commercial Traction (a hybrid AT/MT, but mostly MT in those days), or highway tires for DD and wheeling. My dad wheeled with highway tires (and broke belts, got flats, ripped sidewalls, and got stuck in mud a lot). He hated MT for DD. MT were a lot worse in the 70s for DD than they are now. I hated HT for wheeling.
My dad refused to try ATs and kept using HT for DD and wheeling, until he finally quit wheeling because he was sick of wrecking tires. Many of his friends switched to ATs (BFG AT, I think) in the late 70s with excellent results (especially compared to the weak HTs and godawful MTs of the day). I have been fascinated with ATs since I was 10 years old in around 1978. I keep myself very current on ATs.
I have little interest in MTs. I owned two sets on my LJ and hated them both on road. I never want MT on a DD again. Now I understand why my dad hated MTs so much that he'd wheel with HTs (especially since MT road manners in the 70s were a lot worse than MT road manners now).
I am mostly ignorant of modern highway tires (HT) because I didn't like HT back in the day (and I haven't stayed up to date on them). That statement dates many years back to when HT were a different thing entirely from AS. Back in the day, HT were not very good in the rain, and were terrible on Winter roads. Back then, we had to use dedicated Winter tires during Winter because the HT were very slick on Winter roads. I am left with a lasting dislike of old school HTs for being slick in Winter, and a lasting dislike of
dedicated Winter tires because they are a nuisance to change every year, and they wear out fast.
These days AS are even better than ever, and as Mschi pointed out, many excellent
modern HT tires are both HT and AS (though probably not Winter rated). This makes dedicated Winter tires less necessary for cars in my area. Even better for my climate is the latest generation AS rated for Winter. That makes a dedicated Winter tire unnecessary on a car in my climate. There are now also good latest generation year-round-use Winter tires that make dedicated Winter tires obsolete, IMO. I only see old people buying dedicated Winter tires in my area. Old folks who haven't updated their thinking to match the new tire tech. The days of needing single purpose tires for each season is gone. Most modern tires are multi-taskers. Some more than others.
The prior paragraph applies to cars and SUVs.
For SUVs specifically, the latest generation ATs are so good at all terrains and all seasons, including many ATs are Winter rated, and a few can handle mud reasonably well too. So here again dedicated Winter tires are unnecessary, IMO. As good as the Duratrac and Cooper AT3 are at mud, and to a lesser extent the Hankook ATM, they are making MTs unnecessary for DD guys who only see moderate mud. My Cooper AT3 have taken me the length of a muddy trail and through a muddy creek twice in
2wd (open diff) without spinning.
As technology gets better over the years, tires become better multi-taskers. The old way was to have a speciality tire for each thing (HT, dedicated Winter tire, MT, sand running tires, etc), which sucked, or be like my dad and say F it and use an HT for everything (which was crappy), or be like some other old timers who used MT for everything (which was crappy).
Technology today is awesome. Tires have come a long way. I wonder how much better they'll be in 5 years?