Doesn't seem very impressive to me - I have more elevation in my driveway than the hill they test on in this video: They are easier to put on than chains (the wheel well clearance in the video applies to chains as well as socks), but I'd also have to wonder about the durability. All in all a set of studded winter tires and chains seems best to me. It's more cash outlay up front but over time just as cheap to drive as you are only causing wear on one set of tires at a time.
Apples and oranges. Used to be we drove very few miles in the winter on snow packed roads and needed all the help we could get for 100's miles and months. Durability and accepting 25 mph for top speed were the norm, now we need something to either get us unstuck, or for the 10 miles to the bare state or national highway, easily removed and back to 50 + mph again. Suburbs of NH and wilds of Alaska are two different worlds with totally different needs. That said, some traction aid that is fairly easy to put on and reasonably effective could save your life in the more semi remote areas of the northern half of the country. The myth of 4 wheel drive is a good example, while 4 wheels will get you farther into trouble, all cars have 4 wheel brakes and 4 wheel drive will not prevent you from crashing if you don't stop.
Yep, the rule was "get into trouble with 2wd, then back out in 4wd." Yep, learned that early, I did. Gotta add that putting chains on while lying in a hole you had to dig in the snow is less fun than waiting for a tow or recovery rig (and at that point, chains are not particularly effective.) Yep, I know THAT too.
I saw them a few weeks ago in this video. Couple of the other alternatives seemed a bit better than the socks. AT
As a person who had to put on chains, I love the concept. I used to have to chain up the mini-van to get out of the neighborhood but then would have to take the chains off before I hit the main roads. Sometimes you only have to have chains for a few miles and it takes a lot of time to get chains on. It was the worst. You cannot go over 20 with chains on, that is what the instructions said.
Illegal in a LOT of places. Up in da Yoop, we used soft compounds with embedded walnut hulls. Dunno if you can find them these days. They do NOT last long on any kind of pavement. Then again, the roads up there were not cleared down to pavement, just smoothed out packed snow. Those socks look a bit shaky, but might be worth trying if they are easy enough to put on.
Most of our driveable Surfaces are Dirt, so no issue around here... and no where in our State during Winter...
thanks guys.... @Airtime i think you are right a couple of those others seemed like better alternatives. for temp snowchains. i just dont like to have to chain up for a few hours of driving then unchain the frozen chains. So was looking for an alternative.
An awful lot of that tape was on the boot cleats. A better alternative is Yak Trax, you need not dance on the balls of your feet --
Here ya goes --- Yaktrax :: Confidence on Packed Snow and Ice Which is as I mentioned as alternative to those pull over your sneakers that show up in that tire chain vid.
The vid also had a short go with foot items. YMMV, or maybe you missed that part -- See also the vid of the earth mover chains, seems like not limited to automobiles. Or, just ignore the deviation rather than dragging it out.