nick h.

Does anyone know any details of FIT the manufacturer? Presumably they went bust or were taken over. Is there a database where I can search for French businesses which were trading in the '60s and '70s? I must say that these boots don't look very practical. Why would anyone want a high shine on the whole boot, unless you are going to reserve them just for parades?

I've just weighed my Rangers - 1.3 kg each. And no ventilation...not much fun in the heat. The ones on ebay are dated 1960. The seller says he got them from his uncle, a former parachuting instructor at Pau in the '70s. They have never been worn. Was it common for French paras to buy their own boots? I've seen some Corcorans sold as ex-Legion boots. Would they have been private purchase?

Does anyone know about para boots used by the regular French army or the Legion in the '50s and '60s? Or about a manufacturer in Grenoble called FIT? There are quite a few Ranger boots from around 1960 with FIT Sport or FIT Grenoble on the sole. I have a pair of roughout ones dated 1961. (There are also civilian leather FIT Sport ski boots from that period floating around.) But I can't find a scrap of info about FIT the company. Did the paras wear the issue Rangers as jump boots? Some of them seem to have used Corcorans. Would those have been private purchase? Were the Rangers not thought to be very good jump boots? My curiosity has been piqued by this unusual pair of FIT para boots on ebay https://ebay.us/LSp2JI , which are described as 'du commerce' by the seller. I suppose in this context it means 'private purchase'?