SNOW SOCKS VS SNOW CHAINS | Traction test & brake test

This is the advice of a very senior citizen who grew up driving in Western Colorado mountains. Buy an inexpensive air infiltrator and keep it year around in your vehicle. When installing chains, let out some air pressure. Put on the chains as tight as you can. Then reinflate the tires. Your chains will not come off and the links are less likely to break. There will be no slack and nothing loose.

I believe the most important factor in choosing snow socks or snow chains is how often you think you'll need them. Obviously chains would be the choice if you use them multiple times a year, but many folks only need snow traction devices on rare occasions. Maybe once a year. In this case snow socks make sense.

I can see the snow socks being a good option for car rentals. They specifically state that you can't install snow chains on any rental so this might be a good alternative.

I switched to snow socks 5 years ago and never looked back. Great traction. No risk of damage to your vehicle. Easy enough for anyone to put on. If they start coming off, slow down and the re-center automatically due to centrifugal force. No throwing rocks. No rattle when you hit clear patches on the road, fold up and fit under a seat. Can't beat them. Easily have a couple hundred miles on my sets.

A product that is even worse than the snow claw is "emergency" strap on cable chains. I used to carry those in CT in case of an unexpected snow event. The first time I used them, they spun off (like your snow claws did) but because they are metal, one of them severed a brake line when it came off. They made a bade situation even worse.

When hiking there have been times that placing a pair of socks over my boot toes added incredible traction when dealing with ice covered trails. Great review and entertainment.

Gotta love this attitude. Having massive preconceived ideas about something, testing shit out, being proven wrong by the data and just changing your opinion based on that. Sounds simple on paper but pay attention, and you'll see that more often than not, people just discard the truth for a comforting confirmation bias.

You are a trooper for going out in that weather to do those tests. On a day like that I would definitely be inside as much as possible. Wouldn't even want to think about setting up cameras and shots. Good job man.

Bought some snow socks for a few euros and it saved me from being stuck compare to others with their summer tires! The other main advantage is that you can keep them in your car all year long: it weighs nothing and doesn't take too much space

A friend of mine that has a towing company does a lot of off road recovery and uses snow socks often to protect tires from cuts from rocks. It’s amazing how well they protect the tires from rock cuts

I was looking to understand the difference between snow chains & snow cables, but ended up looking at this. Loved your test, and very very impressed with the snow socks performance. I will echo a comment I saw on one of your other videos. Came here looking for copper and found gold! Thank you for the amazing video and insightful quantitative tests.

Great video Sergiu. Your sense of humor AND expertise is a perfect combination! Thanks.

I have never heard of snow socks before, really interesting. I also enjoy the old school sound effects.

Finally, another automotive channel without bullcrap showing viewers all the stuff we want without the jank shit around. Big respect for your creations and keep your work up!

Isn't it great to be surprised? Thanks for the humorous honesty. Since I only venture to the snow rarely, and need a traction device only for the totally unexpected (as in I don't live in the snow!) the Sox are the obvious answer since they are lighter, require zero maintenance and effectively zero instructions for installation. They're super easy to take along (often here we're just required to HAVE them with us to pass a control). I've been impressed with every test that I've seen with them. But it is the ease of installation that puts it over the top for me. I don't have a lot of room in my wheel wells!

Well done, Sergiu. Both your product testing and your video production were excellent!

Canadian here, Chains is my recommendation . The ones you show are nice and aimed for the car / SUV crowd. For trucks I always recommend a full on set of chains. the ones I have are made from an 18 wheelers chains. If things go sideways with these on, call a friend .

Don't know if you've ever looked into it, but I think the reason snow socks work so well is because the snow binds to it which in turn makes the snow bind to itself and grip. When I was looking at winter tires last year the ones I ended up getting said after tons of testing their tread pattern was not to fling snow out of the way, but to pack the snow in and bind to itself. Can safely say I haven't slid with these new tires.

I first saw snow socks on TV some years ago. An AA man (UK breakdown service) used them on the rear of a stuck Mercedes. He put them on the rear, most of the way around the wheels. When he gently applied power, the wheels rotated and pulled the rest of the sock on. The car then came straight out of the snow. He made it look easy. I now keep a set in my car but have not needed them as my Quattro has not yet had any problems with snow. I know, I shouldn't tempt fate.

This was so informative. I’ve never heard of the socks but I think they are the way to go for my style of driving and location. Thanks so much Sir 👊