The Salomon Forces Quest has been manufactured for the past few years in China. The quality has been great, but the country of origin makes them difficult for US military units to purchase. Consequently, Salomon embarked on a project to introduce a Trade Act Compliant version, made in Cambodia.
Why does Trade Compliance matter to you? It matters because it is now easier for unit supply to purchase the footwear. Rather than you having to spend your own money on the boots you prefer, your unit can order them legally.
Salomon has also added several features to the Quest:
· Anti Static
· Anti Puncture
· Anti Slip
These features will help make the boot more attractive to European militaries and law enforcement agencies, but North American customers benefit as well. In particular, the antistatic feature may be of interest to EOD.
Otherwise, these are the same boots you’ve been wearing for years. Lightweight, yet robust for wear in rough terrain, while carrying heavy loads.
Available in US sizes 4-6 (whole), 7 – 12, and 13-15 (whole). Colors are Coyote, Black, Slate Black and Ranger Green in a Gore-Tex lined variant and Coyote and Black for a nonlined version.
Available through your favorite Salomon Forces dealer.
Great boots for the first year, then the entire sole becomes unglued and falls apart.
Whoa! Anti-static boots? What is this witchcraft and how does it work? I can’t really see that being a feature that any of us put any stock in.
Best Boots EVER.
but GoreTex in Boots is Marketing Crap..
Until you want dry feet.
Or until you work in a hot environment, or have water spill in over the tops of your boots, and then the boots retain water like a water bottle.
Soldiers might not want dry boots but cops, EMS, hunters, flat range junkies, and range instructors want dry feet. In my former Agency if 850 fully 90% of officers had either GTX Quest or Ultras with a lot having both. They keep my feet dry a whole lot more than water spills inside.
Goretex membranes have decent performance in the commonly found conditions for which they were designed. Unsurprisingly, these are the conditions most people find themselves in, most of the time, which explains why Salomon is making what is essentially a beefed up running shoe/light hiker that can perform decently in the conditions that troops have found themselves in over the past two decades of operations: with a few exceptions, primarily continental/desert conditions (mostly dry with temps ranging between hot and cool, some cold). Hot/humid (jungle) and extreme cold (arctic/polar/high-altitude) are two extremes where specialized footwear is needed and anyone considering the Quest for these and a few other specialized environments might reconsider. (and +1 on the Lowa comments below…no one builds footwear for hiking/climbing with a combat load better than the euros.)
I’m always hesitant to beat the “marketing” drum, but there are several problems inherent to goretex in boots
1) Membranes must be kept clean to work, hard to wash a membrane buried inside a boot.
2) The flexing on a soft boot like the salomon will wear out the membrane, most of my boot begin leaking near the ball of the foot where they flex the most.
3) in all but the most flimsy of shoes the membrane will wear out before the shoe, meaning you have some mystery lifespan as a “waterproof” shoe, and the remainder as a less breathable non-waterproof shoe.
Waterproof socks are a far better solution, they can be cleaned like a shell jacket, can be replaced at far less waste then replacing a whole shoe, and can be easily added or removed as needed.
Don’t blame marketing, blame the consumer. For every consumer that has figured out that a) wet feet aren’t that bad, and b) goretex is no guarantee of dry feet anyway, there are dozens if not hundreds of consumers that demand waterproof shoes even in dry climates and for the most mundane tasks.
If you think that “wet feet aren’t that bad “you never really had wet feet. Oh sure, your feet have been wet for a few hours. But you never had wet feet for more than 24 hours. Because if you had, you would know that was one of the worst things ever.
Unfortunately, waterproof/breathable socks aren’t very common these days.
My last 2 pair of Salomon Forces’s sole start separating after a few weeks of normal use, so whatever Compliance you got ain’t worth jack shit if you pay premium for it.
Just curious: how is a boot made in Cambodia trade compliant but not one made in China? I thought Trade Compliant had something to do with manufacturing in this country, but maybe I am confusing different statutes?
Trade compliance is based upon countries we consider friendly.
TAA Compliance can be found here https://www.acquisition.gov/content/52225-5-trade-agreements#i1053648
Lots of foreign countries that might surprise you if you’re not familiar with it, but China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, etc. are not on the list.
Cambodia falls under the least developed country subset of designated countries.
Obviously doesn’t do anything for Berry Compliant requirements which might what you were thinking of, but if your contact vehicle (or purchase amount) doesn’t require Berry this might help you (for US DOD customers).
What will the weight be on a pair of the non-goretex version of the boot with the new features?
Goretex in a tan boot doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
I see now that the option is there for none on the tan.
Or just save your money and buy Lowa’s. They are made in Europe, and are a thousand times better made than Chinese Salomon’s. If you don’t like Lowa boots, you should just put your face into a running lawnmower blade. 🙂
Say it baby, say it! Fact based comments!
“You no wan da ‘sorrow man’ boos?” Huh? “Sorrow man boos, make in China” Why the hell would I want “Sorrow mans boots”? I already have enough “Sorrow”.
Chinese accent really didn’t help Salomon sales with me at least.
Can anyone advise which colorway is next to black in the bottom pic?