As a kid, the ritual most Sunday arvos would be to go out to the front lawn and clean dad’s Pajero; vacuum the dirt from the floor and remove the Macca’s chips or lolly wrappers from the back seat. Fast-forward 25 years (Ed Note – geez you’ve aged), with the limited time that I seem to have, I’m one of those guys still trying to maintain the appearance of my vehicle.
So why fit seat covers? Torn or damaged seats can drastically reduce the resale of your vehicle. When you stop and think about it, your seats are one item that you are using every single time you drive and are easily susceptible to wear and tear.
My Amarok has heated leather seats I’d never thought of covering up. Over the years I’ve been cleaning and using a Leather Honey care product to keep my seats in good nick. Unfortunately, this process takes an hour or two of elbow grease each clean up.
I first came across Black Duck’s canvas covers while filming for Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures. Three straight weeks of travel with these covers made me realise how useful tough, waterproof covers could be. Not only that, surprisingly, the canvas material was actually comfortable. I hadn’t thought about purchasing seat covers prior to the new Black Duck 4Elements entering the market, however, with claims of them being as waterproof and protective as the canvas, but softer feel, I was sold.
PROTECTION JUST LIKE THE PLASTIC-WRAPPED COUCH AT NAN’S HOUSE
WORDS & IMAGES BY SHANE STIFFLE
BLACK DUCK 4ELEMENTS SEAT COVER
GEAR
BLACK DUCK 4ELEMENTS COVERS – SO WHAT’S THE GO?
These covers come in black and are custom made to accurately fit most common 4WD vehicles, in my case a 2014 Volkswagen Amarok. I like the appearance of the black cover with the small Black Duck logo.
The covers are made in Australia where the material has transitioned from their flagship canvas models to a cotton twill composite. Basically, this is a weave of two fabrics resulting in material strong like canvas, yet softer to touch. The covers visually appear to be well made, with quality stitching and an additional fitted ‘PU’ inner layer that protects the seat.
The seat covers are airbag compatible, ADR certified. They also retain the factory access points for seat position controls and the under-seat storage compartment.
These Amarok-specific covers contain three pieces for the front seat; one section for the base, the backrest with a rear pocket and the headrest cover.
The rear seat cover allows for the 60/40 fold with two separate pieces for the base, the backrest and the headrests with access points to move the backrest forward.
PROTECTION JUST LIKE THE PLASTIC-WRAPPED COUCH AT NAN’S HOUSE
GEAR
As a kid, the ritual most Sunday arvos would be to go out to the front lawn and clean dad’s Pajero; vacuum the dirt from the floor and remove the Macca’s chips or lolly wrappers from the back seat. Fast-forward 25 years (Ed Note – geez you’ve aged), with the limited time that I seem to have, I’m one of those guys still trying to maintain the appearance of my vehicle.
So why fit seat covers? Torn or damaged seats can drastically reduce the resale of your vehicle. When you stop and think about it, your seats are one item that you are using every single time you drive and are easily susceptible to wear and tear.
My Amarok has heated leather seats I’d never thought of covering up. Over the years I’ve been cleaning and using a Leather Honey care product to keep my seats in good nick. Unfortunately, this process takes an hour or two of elbow grease each clean up.
I first came across Black Duck’s canvas covers while filming for Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures. Three straight weeks of travel with these covers made me realise how useful tough, waterproof covers could be. Not only that, surprisingly, the canvas material was actually comfortable. I hadn’t thought about purchasing seat covers prior to the new Black Duck 4Elements entering the market, however, with claims of them being as waterproof and protective as the canvas, but softer feel, I was sold.
WORDS & IMAGES BY SHANE STIFFLE
BLACK DUCK 4ELEMENTS SEAT COVER
BLACK DUCK 4ELEMENTS COVERS – SO WHAT’S THE GO?
These covers come in black and are custom made to accurately fit most common 4WD vehicles, in my case a 2014 Volkswagen Amarok. I like the appearance of the black cover with the small Black Duck logo.
The covers are made in Australia where the material has transitioned from their flagship canvas models to a cotton twill composite. Basically, this is a weave of two fabrics resulting in material strong like canvas, yet softer to touch. The covers visually appear to be well made, with quality stitching and an additional fitted ‘PU’ inner layer that protects the seat.
The seat covers are airbag compatible, ADR certified. They also retain the factory access points for seat position controls and the under-seat storage compartment.
These Amarok-specific covers contain three pieces for the front seat; one section for the base, the backrest with a rear pocket and the headrest cover.
The rear seat cover allows for the 60/40 fold with two separate pieces for the base, the backrest and the headrests with access points to move the backrest forward.