Ryan,
I was behind Matt most of this past weekend, so I probably had the best view of the M/T HP's in action. I was very impressed. Didn't feel that Matt was compromising his rig's performance one bit. It appeared to me that the impressive performance of this tire came from the area where there the tread transitions into the sidebiters. When aired down, this area does most of the work, and does it well. While it is not made for exteme mud bogging (right Matt?), it performs admirably in the mud and on the rocks. And it really is much quiter than a mud terrain tire on the street. A big thumbs up!
Now Matt, I said it would make me think long and hard about the HP's vs. the Swamper SSR's, if I had not ordered the SSR's yet. Not that I would cancel my order for the SSR's. I'm still curious about the SSR's, and should have them installed soon. Next time we get together, we can do more comparison, or course you might be running the BAJA CLAW by then too.
Ryan, I feel the same way about the Swamper Thornbirds that Paul does. If you're interested in getting Swampers, look into the SSR's. I'll post and let you know what I think of them after I have mine on, which should be within a week. Also, if you chose the M/T HP's, like Matt has, you will not be disappointed. They perform well, and look cool too.
DOGMAN