SNOW SOCKS VS SNOW CHAINS | Traction test & brake test

Hi everyone! In this video, I'll be testing the famous SNOW SOCKS to see if they're any good, and we'll compare them with two other products: the SNOW CLAW and the proven SNOW CHAINS. Let's find out together which is better.

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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:47 - Hill climb test
1:37 - Control
1:59 - The SNOW CLAW
3:12 - The SNOW SOCKS
5:02 - The SNOW CHAINS
6:21 - Brake test
7:24 - Conclusion (SNOW CLAW)
8:41 - Conclusion (SNOW SOCKS)
10:58 - Conclusion (SNOW CHAINS)
12:16 - Ending

[frankwhite]

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.

[FDDLERSGREEN]

This guy's testing braking a vehicle on ice, in the middle of nowhere, next to a cliff....we can at least all give him a thumbs up

[joshtheking]

I used Auto Socks on my Hotshot Truck and they worked flawlessly. That was up by Hoodoo in Oregon up through Santiam Pass. I got pulled over by an Oregon State Trooper and he looked at me like i was crazy. Well it was time for his shift change so he said he would follow me up and down the mountain while he was on chains. His relief arrived and up and down we went. Keep in mind, I'm grossed out at 38, 000 lbs truck, trailer and load with a 40' trailer on a 4wd dually. He followed me up and down the mountain and it was a white out blizzard. We got to the chain removal area and he was stunned. I took them off and he said he would never have believed that they could do that. If thats not a grueling test, there isnt one that is. 50 state legal in the US and THEY DO WORK 100%.

[stevehirjak]

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.

[fatmanchew]

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.

[connecticutaggie]

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.

[smithderf]

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.

[bigfun]

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.

[ChaosPootato]

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.

[PsionicSpike]

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.

[kentuequi]

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

[erichill]

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

[bofa]

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

[КонстантинГренадеров]

Нашел в продаже эти носки и.... Ни одного отзыва. Наконеу мне помогло это видео, мало того вспомнил что можно обуватт носки на обувь, мне много лет назад об этом говорила мать друга, но я забыл про этот совет, сейчас прошел снежный ливень Ваня у нас, буду пробоваттт и на обувь и на покрышкт. Спасибо за видео и за комментарии.

[darelldd]

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!

[Hurtydwarf]

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.

[BengLadislavDanicek]

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!

[connecticutaggie]

Great to see the comparison. Thanks. Another advantage of Snow Socks is that you can use then on cars that have very little wheel clearance. That is why I have them. The tire clearance on my car is too small to use chains.

[thepeacefulrevolution]

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

[Bo_Hica]

Good video, I've been driving a semi since 95 & I just wanted to mention a couple things, 1: it's better to not drive in those conditions unless necessary. & 2: as good as this video was I noticed that you were doing your test in the same area for certain parts & as you conducted your test the snow kept getting more & more packed changing the conditions (from powder snow to packed snow & even possibly to ice)