para trousers/boots how rare?

[mark vis]

Seems to me as I have had a few smocks and still have some para lids how rare are the pants/trousers and boots?I know that they are not the most iconic para items but who has them??Thanks guys and will put my Normandy para on soon!!

[besslein]

Seems to me as I have had a few smocks and still have some para lids how rare are the pants/trousers and boots?I know that they are not the most iconic para items but who has them??Thanks guys and will put my Normandy para on soon!!

I can only tell you that im realy in shock since some houers that i have missed this pair today on e-stand,are you the new owner?
for me the pants are realy rare

[Mr.Jerry D]

I have had three pairs of FJ pants over the years.
Then I turn up a smock

I have seen one or two pair of (real) boots come up for sale.

[jambobbyb]

Only ever seen one pair of side lace boots at the time i didnt know what they were

[Jos L C]

Concerning boots I've seen maybe 6 pairs the last 6/8 months, but all had a firm price tag..

Concerning trousers ...I never see them and it'll be very hard to get one, unless a collector throws one in the ring like the one on E-stand..

I'm glad I'm not in the para business to wait and grow a long beard to get something original.. ..., but on the other hand I've some stuff on which I've waited all my life... , big fun, no ?..

Jos.

[Willi Z.]

Front lace boots are not that uncommon. Just getting very expensive.

FJ trousers have always be tough to find. Not am item which many GIs brought back. Many of the minty ones originated from depots in Frankfurt and were picked up after the war ended. And, as like most other trousers, these were worn after the war and therefore few survived.

For me collecting FJ is a challenge. If it were as easy as going to Walmart and picking something off the shelf I wouldn't be interested in the hobby.

[Ostfries]

the "hunt" is all the fun,

I luckily own a Fallschirmjäger knochensack (smock) and helmet but unfortunately still wasn’t able to lay my hands on a good pair of FJ pants or boots, I think when time progress I probably will not be able to keep up with the increasing prices of these kind of items and probably never will own one of them. To be realistic, I find it a bit useless to put 5000 euro worth of pants underneath a smock only to see approximately 30cm of trousers. In the period of time (‘44/’45) that Fallschirmjäger where fighting again in Holland they only had a role as infantry and in most cases the only specifically FJ items they wore where just there jump smock and helmet. My FJ mannequin is wearing general issue Luftwaffe trousers and marching boots, good enough for me until the time that I will encounter a pair of FJ jump trousers or boots for a decent price. In my opinion the “hunt” is all the fun, as soon as you got an item it just seem to blend up in your collection and after time become “just” on of the items in it.

[SMP]

Hi Mark,
My non-scientific guess would estimate the ratio of helmets to smocks to trousers as : 100 to 10 to 1
I think boots are about as common ( or should that be rare !) as smocks, although ones with original soles are less so.
I think it also depends where you live. America is good for helmets and smocks, while Europe is good for boots .
I once swapped a really nice SD helmet for a pair of jump trousers. I have seen plenty of SDs since , but only a couple of (original) jump trousers.
It is crazy to think you could get a decent second-hand car for what you have to pay for a second-hand pair of trousers !
Regards,
Steve

P.S. Want to sell that FB yet ?

[mark vis]

Thanks for the comments guys and I can see that trousers and boots are not really the sort of thing that I would pick up to take home if I had been there,hence how rare they are today.Hi steve really still need the tunic but if it does go one day you will be the first to know,and was good to see you at the fair the other day.

[FESTUNGBREST]

para boots

Footwear and trousers have unfortunately been worn out by farmers in the fields in the mid 40's, 50's, 60's. Nice boots such as those would have been relished by rockers and bikers in the 70's. Especially in Europe where there is a flea market culture. I have a KM made in Litzmanstadt jacket that has been re tailored and re buttoned for Frau wear. Times were tough over there after 45. And I agree that, in general, the average Yank was rather prone to bring back a blade, flag, or helmet, rather than a pair of boots.

[Ostfries]

Footwear and trousers have unfortunately been worn out by farmers in the fields in the mid 40's, 50's, 60's. Nice boots such as those would have been relished by rockers and bikers in the 70's. Especially in Europe where there is a flea market culture. I have a KM made in Litzmanstadt jacket that has been re tailored and re buttoned for Frau wear. Times were tough over there after 45. And I agree that, in general, the average Yank was rather prone to bring back a blade, flag, or helmet, rather than a pair of boots.

You are right about that, for example here in Holland farmers wore English/Canadian battle dress jackets and pants as late as the seventies just because they where cheaper then a good overall.