I absolutely love this hiking boot. It is durable, comfortable, supportive, and very stable. I have a tendency to roll my ankles while hiking. I have long worn Lowa Renegade GTX boots and find them incredibly comfortable for more casual trail walking on very level, frequently maintained trails. However, I still tend to roll my ankles on trails that are a bit more uneven, especially when descending steeper terrain. Preparing for a guided hiking trip in Alaska, I decided to upgrade to a burlier boot. I tried maybe a dozen boots. I even looked at the Salomon Quest 4 GTX and rejected it previously. However, I was given some bad advice by a salesperson, who noted that the boot runs big and advised me to size down by 1/2 (I normally wear 10-1/2 and I tried a 10). It seemed to fit, but I couldn't get the comfort dialed in and moved on. Eventually I exhausted the other possibilities and came back to the Quest 4 GTX. This time I went with my normal 10-1/2 and it was a world of difference. While the very generous toe box allowed me to seemingly wear the size 10, the 10-1/2 fixed all the other fit problems I experienced in my first try. Definitely a good boot for me afterall! Break-in time was quite substantial. There is a strip of plastic along the sides of the shoe near the bottom, from midfoot to the heel. I think this helps increase the rigidity of the structure and comprises part of the incredible stability I feel when hiking with this boot. At the same time, this plastic dramatically increases the break-in time I experienced. I managed to get it just barely get it minimally broken in with daily walks for two weeks prior to the trip (supplemented with time using a mechanical shoe stretching device (that includes some movable bumps to help with bunion relief). By the 2nd or 3rd hike in Alaska (these were around 6-8 mi hikes each) I deemed them fully broken in and very comfortable. By contrast, my Lowa Renegade GTX boots required little to no break-in to get to the same level of comfort. In fact, I've never had a boot take as long to break in as the Quest 4 GTX. That said, the Quest is definitely the more supportive boot, and I had a lot more confidence on the trail and ZERO ankle rolls the entire trip. The other criticism I have for this boot (although I have this criticism of almost every hiking boot): the insole is just adequate. That said, it's quite common to buy third party insoles. My favorite for hiking boots are the Superfeet Trailblazer Comfort and Superfeet Adapt Hike Max. The Adapt insole is a little bit more flexible or less structured than the Trailblazer and, at least for me, works better with the more structured Quest 4 (whereas I tend to go with the Trailblazer on my softer boots). That said, I did the entire Alaska trip with the Trailblazer insoles. One lacing tip: because of the very generous toe box, I used a variant of the heel lock lacing method (search for "hiking boot heel lock lacing" and you'll find some good videos). I think I only really needed this technique on steeper trails (especially descending); on easier/flatter trails I could probably skip that and just lace the whole boot normally. With my use of a heel-lock lacing method, I think I can see why the salesman tried to have me size down. He was concerned that the roominess of the Quest would allow my foot to slide around too much, causing blisters and risking "toe bang" on extended descents. However, at least in my case the smaller size compromised the fit in other ways and I'm experienced enough with alternative lacing methods that I was best off with my normal size. My advice to you: try both your normal size and a half-size down and make your own choice. Other things I like: This boot has a very high top, which helps even more with preventing my ankle from rolling and increasing clearance when going through water, although it also makes the boot a bit hotter (especially when combined with the GoreTex). The waterproofing is excellent; we encountered both heavy rain and even snow at Denali and while the outside leather eventually got soaked throuh, it never penetrated the interior. Finally, I really appreciate the hooks used for the lacing. While I still love my Lowas, in additional to occasionally rolling my ankles, I really wish they'd improve their hooks. I often have the laces slipping out while tying the Lowas and have even had them slip out while hiking...which I have learned to compensate for with lacing hacks. No such problem with the Quest GTX hooks. They grab the laces very well and make lacing up much easier compared to my Lowas. They've also never slipped off during hiking.
