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Irish tradie is desperate to get his hands on 'best ever' $89 Kmart item years after moving back home from Australia

Daily Mail

40 minutes ago

Daily Mail

Irish tradie is desperate to get his hands on 'best ever' $89 Kmart item years after moving back home from Australia

An Irish tradie who used to lived in Perth is seeking to replace a beloved work item that he previously purchased in a Kmart Australia store - but so far to no avail. The man recently took to Reddit to explain that he was on the hunt for a 'similar' pair of work boots to the ones he'd bought years ago in a Kmart store Down Under. He shared the details of his search in an 'Ask An Aussie' subreddit post titled: 'Irishman misses Kmart work boots'. 'Lads I know this is weird but I got a pair of Kmart work boots a couple years ago in Perth,' he wrote. 'They brought me all around your beautiful country and helped me work to afford the copious pints of Swan. 'I'm home in Ireland now and I'm sad to say it but the Jackeroos are approaching their last days.' The man proceeded to share a picture of his now highly worn-out pair of Kmart Zip Sided Safety Boots, which currently retail in store for $89. He added that he'd since struggled to find a worthy replacement in his home country. 'I've been searching for a boot similar, but to no success,' he lamented. The tradie went on to detail the characteristics that he missed about his former Kmart boots, such as 'the soft leather, the side zip that refuses to break, the immediate comfort out of the box, the wide soles for my flat Shrek feet'. 'A true piece of art,' he added. The original poster admitted that he'd dabbled with other boot brands, using a humorous dating metaphor to describe the result thus far. 'I've gone through other boots like rebounds after a failed relationship. [H]oping to find what I'm missing. But they're just not the same,' he wrote. The Reddit post ended with a call-out for help to Aussies, begging to know if a 'similar' boot existed, 'not just in appearance but in spirit and soul'. A number of Aussie tradies jumped into the comments to offer some alternatives. The top three brand of work boots recommended in the comments were Blundstone, Mongrel Boots and Steel Blue. But as was noted in the responses, these bigger name brands tend to be priced at around '$250 for a pair'. By comparison, the Kmart Zip Sided Safety boots are less than half the price. Because the original poster was so enamoured with their old Kmart work boots, some commenters helpfully suggested ways to replace them like-for-like. For instance, one reply recommended ordering a new pair of the same boots online from the Kmart website and then arranging to 'get them delivered to a mate in Australia who can forward them to you'. 'Maybe pricey though for postage,' they conceded. It appears the Irish tradie isn't the only one impressed with Kmart's Zip Sided Safety Boots, which have an impressive 4.7 out of 5 star review score on the mass retailer's website. Many of the five-star reviews made mention of how well-priced the boots are for the quality – particularly when compared to other bigger brands. 'Great shoes for work and excellent price, why pay three times more when the quality is the same if not better,' read one review. 'Great quality for the price… plus they have a steel cap. It was a choice between these or a $200 pair. Can't complain,' added another. The work boots are deemed to be 'suitable for electrical, carpentry, labouring and warehouse industries', and currently come in two colours: black and wheat. Importantly, the online product description confirms that the shoes are 'AS 2210.3:2019 SB FO SRA certified'. Some of the features of the shoe include a slip-on design, steel round toe, side zip, high cut and have a pull back tab. From a practical standpoint, the product description touts that the boots have a 'fuel & oil resistant sole', a 'TPU toe bump' and are 'slip resistant'. The sturdy shoe is made from a mixture of full grained nubuck leather, polyurethane (PU) on the mid sole and outsole and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) cutting die on the footbed. Many of the online reviews commended the comfortability of the boots, with one simply declaring that they were the 'best work boots ever! One shopper explained that they'd worn the Kmart buy for 'long periods' without any trouble, noting that was 'unusual for out of the box boots'. 'Excellent boot for the money. Zip side is great,' added another.