Recon: Salomon 4D GTX Quest
Do you go backpacking or hiking barefooted? Didn’t thinks so… unless you’re that nutjob Cody Lundin from Dual Survival, then you probably wear boots when you hit the great outdoors.
After much deliberation, I dropped a cool $240 USD on a new pair of boots. Sounds expensive, but when you buy them to last a few years, you should spare little expense. Buy the best boots money can, because if you’re hiking more than a few miles carrying more than a few pounds on your back, you’ll need premium footwear. You wouldn’t hit the racetrack on bald tires would you?
The Salomon 4D GTX Quests are like racing tires built for off-roading. I opted for the all black tactical looking Forces version of this boot, simply because I like black boots and dark colored shoes. The Forces line is a tactically inspired “murdered out” color series of a few of Salomon’s styles. All of the reflective parts removed and the flashy colors normally used by Salomon are replaced with grey, black and some earthy tones for operators and law enforcement. Other features have been modified like the closed lace hooks that won’t catch on anything when moving in close quarters.
Already owning and loving the Salomon Speedcross 3’s and the Salomon XD Pro 3D shoes, I hoped that a pair of boots would perform just as well. I planned to get my boots a few days before a trip west and break them in, but due to the snowpocalypse up north, my boots had been delayed somewhere in New Jersey and arrived just hours before I headed to the airport.
You might think it foolish to wear a brand new pair of hiking boots on an 11 mile hike up over 7000 feet of rugged, rocky terrain, without breaking them in. Well it is. Luckily these Salomons, like my other two pairs, required zero break-in time. Straight out of the box and on the mountain, these boots were fantastic.
At 6 inches high and with a wide sole, these boots are all about support and stability. They look like mean and heavy s**t kickers but they are surprisingly light at about 23 oz. per boot. They feel solid and strong, but not so much that you feel unconnected from the ground. The Contagrip soles are rather flexible which helps when navigating up and over surfaces that are more than horizontal, like a rock face or a log.
The toe box is tipped with the rubber cap that will protect against sharp rocks or other trail nasties and the same rubber protects the heel area as well. The arch support is a welcomed feature of the Ortholite insoles. Too many shoes these days skimp in the arch department, leaving us higher arched homo-sapiens to aftermarket insoles, which never feel right.
The Contagrip soles are very grippy, with cuts around the forefoot to allow for flexibility and do well in dry terrain as well as slippery surfaces. The GTX stands for the full Gore-Tex membrane that encases the foot to keep you dry without sacrificing breathability.
The GTX line of Salomon’s shoes and boots run a bit hot in a tropical environment, so anywhere north of 30° latitude, these boots are perfect for you all year round. If you live closer to the Equator, you might want to purchase some thin, breathable socks to go with your new kicks.
It’s amazing that a boot that looks this tough can be so soft and luxurious inside. Even after 8 hours of wear long after hiking up to the top of Granite Mountain in Arizona, my feet were feeling great. It was roughly 7629 feet in elevation, up rock faces, over logs and across varied kinds of surfaces but when I reached the summit, I wasn’t thinking about how much I had spent on my new boots. I didn’t take note of how much my feet weren’t hurting because I was too busy enjoying the view.
David Massey Senior Contributor & Recon Specialist
David Massey is from the USA and works full time as a MultiMedia Producer, Photojournalist and writer, creating imagery for an aeronautical university and shooting freelance assignments wherever they may be. He’s traveled to Africa, Asia, Europe and Central America in search of a good story. More…
