snow socks

[sparkymarky]

hi, has anyone had any first hand experience with snow socks, as a boiler engineer i have to respond to boiler breakdowns thoughout devon & cornwall, and while we may not as much snow as our northan cousins, we have a lot of untreated roads in the area.
yesterday i went out in my pergeout expert and did a 180degree spin on a sharp down hill corner at about 5mhp, after being told i wasn`t allowed snow chains and winter tyres would cost too much, snow socks seem to be my last option.
interested to hear you`re comments.
mark.

 

[Harbo]

I have a pair of Autosocks but not had to use them yet thank goodness.

They were featured on BBC last week and received good comments and on the various videos and reviews they appear to perform well.

Only supposed to be used in emergencies on snow or ice - if used on "bare" Tarmac, for prolonged periods will wear out quickly.

In last winters snow I had to be pushed out of various innocent looking places in my rear wheeled drive car so I hope these will save the embarrassment?

Rod

 

[woodshavings]

A friend has them, says they work well.
However, you need to remove them as soon as you are on a road without snow/ice otherwise they wear out ultra quick.
Says this is reasonably quick once you get the hang of it but it is a bit of a flaff
John

 

[promhandicam]

I saw an RAC van with snow socks on today and an AA van with chains. I had a chat with the AA driver and he said that the chains were better in his opinion than the socks although he still couldn't tow anyone with his chains. I went to put chains on my car today only to find that they were too small - I bought them 20 years ago for a skiing trip and they worked well - once they were attached (which is a PITA). While I was chatting to the AA man, someone came along and jokingly said to him "'I'll give you £25 quid to look the other way while I take your chains" - to which I replied "if you give me £25 I'll give you a pair in their original box!" He thought I was joking but I assured him I wasn't and so after a visit to the cash point I came away with £25 and he went off with my old chains!

Steve

 

[blurk99]

i got my snow socks last year (just in time) and they worked brilliantly, bear in mind i've only used mine on a little mitsi colt, not sure how they'd work on a gert big loaded up transit type van... but i'll not be without a pair now, much easier than chains!

jim

 

[dickm]

I've had a set of chains for years, and religiously put them in the boot at the onset of snow. Haven't ever used them "for real", just relying on Vredestein winter tyres which do the job in snow pretty well. But with the latest downfall up here, thought I'd better try putting the chains on while the car was still in the garage and the temperature had risen to -3C, to see how hard it is fitting them.
Take it from me, PITA doesn't do it justice! But at least I've learned the tricks needed to fit them when I'm approaching that drift :?

 

[promhandicam]

I've had a set of chains for years, and religiously put them in the boot at the onset of snow. Haven't ever used them "for real", just relying on Vredestein winter tyres which do the job in snow pretty well. But with the latest downfall up here, thought I'd better try putting the chains on while the car was still in the garage and the temperature had risen to -3C, to see how hard it is fitting them.
Take it from me, PITA doesn't do it justice! But at least I've learned the tricks needed to fit them when I'm approaching that drift :?

A good idea to have a practice in the comfort of your garage as the usual scenario is that you end up trying to fit them on your own, by the side of a road, in the snow, with the light failing which is nigh on impossible.

Steve

 

[Jensmith]

Bought snow socks last year but not had to use them yet. They'#re in the boot for emergencies though as you never know when you might get stuck.
They wern't cheap - I think they were about £150 for the pair.

They're like woolly socks - a hairy fabric that sticks to the snow.

 

[Steve Jones]

Don't know where you bought them from Jen but I've just bought a pair for my mondeo and they were £53 from the roofbox company, although I haven't had chance to use them yet.

Steve

 

[blurk99]

mine were an ebay bargain at £27, they're more like the material they make builders bags from rather than wooly / grippy and they have an elasticated tread and sidewall that seems designed to scrunch up and create grippy pockets (they're a loose fit on the wheel) but they work a treat, just been for a walk and spotted a stuck snowplough / gritter.....

jim

 

[Jensmith]

Don't know where you bought them from Jen but I've just bought a pair for my mondeo and they were £53 from the roofbox company, although I haven't had chance to use them yet.

Steve

They were Goodyear ones or similar. We struggled to get them. I might have been slightly over on my estimate as we bought for both cars - just had a look and it was probably more like £80 for mine.

The cheaper Autosocks wern't recommended by a friend who had tried them in the past.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I've got a pair of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SNOWGRIP-WHEEL-CLAMPS-SNOW-ICE13-15-DIA-160-165-TYRE-/270649930481

The BBC used to use them in the 1980s on Outside Broadcast vehicles. I bought mine on the strength of the local transport manager's recommendation. They are only for getting you unstuck, but they take seconds to fit and you don't need to be able to move to do it. They're the second set I bought, but unfortunately don't fit our current vehicles. I don't think they're available easily any more, which is why I'm hanging onto ours (I think). I've seen a few sets on eBay. They used to come in their own holdall too, which is convenient as they've got sticking-out springy bits when collapsed. They work best with slightly under-inflated tyres (wot you should usually do on snow, anyway),

Chwers,

E.