 Poster: A snowHead
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I bought a set of chains from yoda ages ago for our trip to Val Cenis last year. That trip had to be cancelled due to my health at the time. I didn't even open the box, thinking that I had plenty of time to practice before I'd ever need them....
Bought a new car (a mercedes, could I have bought a worse car for snow?) last feb, and went to collect it in the snow. I put the chains in the car in the hope that the tyre size would be the same should the worst happen....and it did. I got stuck on the way home!
As luck had it, the chains were the right size for my new car, so out they came.... It was a nightmare. I've never seen such a confusing assemblage of links, hooks, cables and connectors. "I've been sold a pup!" I'm thinking.
Needless to say, it was an epic fail - the instructions might as well have been written in arabic. I was lucky that a couple of guys happened by who volunteeered to push me out onto the main road.
I put the chains back in the box and put them in the loft. "I'll have another go in the summer..."
Booked to go to La Norma (Modane) this year - tonight, actually - and did I practice the chains? Did I heck. I'd become scared of them, and was hoping that there wouldn't be any snow during our journey - just loads at resort. Well, looks like that aint gonna be the case.
Getting more and more worried, I had the chains in the car on the way home from work on weds morning.
Got stuck again. Tried to put the chains on again. Epic fail again. I got home eventually, after having to go the wrong way down a one way street to avoid a merc defeating gradient, and now I'm really worried. I checked the chain size was correct for my tyres...and it was, so why can't I get these flippin' things to go on?!
I'm realising that it's a nigh on certainty that I'm going to absolutely have to use these damn things pretty soon, so yesterday, in desperation, I turned to youtube for help...Wow! They didn't have my exact make of chain, but I found something very similar...and it looked so easy!
I got the spare into the lounge, and had a go...IT WORKED!! I went outside and had a go on the car...and IT WORKED AGAIN! Took me about 10 minutes! What a relief.
So, if you are new to snowchains, practice! and remember, youtube is your freind!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think someone mentioned on here a few months ago seeing a driver take each wheel off his car to fit the chain and then refit it. May not have been so stupid after all - or perhaps he should have watched youtube too.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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youspurs1, I'm relieved that the tale had a happy ending, I was worried that you might blame the vendor there for a minute 
(I had never opened the box since purchase). Now I have Spikes Spyders which are easy to fit.....
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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youspurs1, good point, the worst time to 'practice' putting on chains is in deep snow in the middle of the night on the side of a mountain road. In the living room is a good idea!
I think as ours were the very cheapest kind when we panic-bought them years ago, they are pretty straight forward, so we are lucky in that respect.
They are in any case by definition the kind of thing that you don't use very often so I guess it's never going to be as simple as putting the kettle on, but it does help to be prepared.
I also have in my car a plastic sheet to kneel on and big gardening gloves for the faffing around bit before they go on the wheels.
D
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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youspurs1, we bought some for our Christmas trip, and thought we should practise before we left. We did exactly the same as you - brought the spare wheel into the kitchen and tried it out in the warm, a much better idea than outside in the cold! We never had to use them though, although the roads up to Tignes were very snowy.
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I saw a new model Jag in snowchains driving down a perfectly clear road this morning in south london (Carshalton)... bit excessive i thought...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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youspurs1, as a fellow Merc driver, surely you appreciate the smug feeling of being able to drive on snow when most other mere mortals slide around or stay at home? I put mine on as the snow began to fall earlier this week (during daylight, as it's been a couple of years since I've used them) and have smugly been driving around in near empty streets ever since. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Richard_Sideways, Surely this will damage the tyres? Driving down a clear road with chains on?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Also worth having a headtorch in the kit to go with gloves (which you don't expect to use in any other capacity), kneeling pad and some cleaning rags... wheels get a little filthy, and so will you. You can guarantee that the time you need to fit them it will be:
a) dark
b) snowing
c) on a slope
d) cold
e) late, and with
f) a vehicle full of tired and fractious family...
Practice in the living room WILL get you to know the prinicples, but for that true all-countain experience, nothing beats a full-on test.
Or... as has been reported by fellow owners in Les Arcs this week when stopped by the gendarmarie, a pathetic whimper, some feigned helplessness and "a poor little ole me" attitude gets helpful French and Belgian drivers to do it for you... (long eyelashes and good legs an advantage).
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I rmember driving to Serre Che this year in feb and having to stop about a mile from the Col du Lautaret to put chains on along with everyone else as everyone was losing traction on the uphill
I got the chains out the back and not having put a set on in the last 3 years tried to remember in the dark and the -10 how to do it and spent 30 mins and not getting them on, lots of french drivers where asking if I could help them "Non" was the answer, in the end I gave it up as a bad job and hopped back in the car to warm up and read the instructions
"OH THATS how you do it"
back out and 3 mins later I was driving up the col with my chains on
:facepalm:
read the instructions guys
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You know it makes sense.
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JimW, So..my son and I retire to a discreet distance and let wifey and his fiance work their magic? excellent idea!
Torch - tick
Plastic sheet to kneel on - tick
Rags - tick
Whimpering, helpless women - tick (whimpering, helpless men - a given, but of doubtful use)
Stockings and sussies x 2 pairs - need to source
Mini skirts x 2 - need to source
Fake lashes x 2 - need to source
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I've had snow chains and taken them whenever we've gone skiing (a number of years now) and I haven't yet had to use them in anger (however, I realise that the odds are running ever shorter). The ex. was always hopeless with them (one wonders maybe suspiciously hopeless) on the front drive, but I have always had moderate success with them. The key seems to be in getting properly shaken out and positioned with all the parts of chain lined up and untwisted before you attempt to do anything with them and then doing exactly what the instructions tell you to do in the right order. On the drive way this seems to meet with success, however, I dread ever having to do it in anger. I think if I was by myself I would be most concerned about having done it right and had I got them tight enough. That said with no other option and no willing handsome Continental chappie to stop and help me, I'd certainly have a damn good try with them and would no doubt succeed and feel highly chuffed with myself. At the moment its probably just fear of the unknown. Obviously I don't know, but I would imagine the most vital part of the kit is some waterproof gloves, with sufficieint dexterity to do the job and yet sufficient warmth to keep your hands warm.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Megamum, I'm sure you'd manage fine, you're already streets ahead of most of the numpties (many of them French, they're not exempt) who don't bother to practice until they're in a snowstorm in the dark. As for having a good pair of legs, it's a job to imagine how you'd be flashing those around in a blizzard. And don't assume people will stop to help. I did stop to get chains off one time, and as there were two blokes in our car to get them off, I did wander over to help a really hopeless young French foursome who had their instructions spread out on the snow - always a bad sign. It was like a music-hall - me trying to explain in French how to put them on - and how they'd need to reverse the steps to get them off.
I never use gloves to put snowchains on - it takes far longer. I aim to do it fast enough that my fingers don't freeze, and i generally succeed. A head torch is a big help in the dark, but otherwise you can always get some hapless passenger out to hold a torch.
A small kids beach shovel to clear out some of the snow behind the wheel is a good idea. And don 't be wearing your new £400 ski jacket.
Generally, the more expensive chains are easier to fit, and less likely to break and wrap a length of chain round some important bit of stuff behind the wheel.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
And don 't be wearing your new £400 ski jacket.
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Ooh so true!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hindsight like that is worth its weight in gold!
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Ah - but it wasn't hindsight, it was foresight.  Women drivers can have some very good ideas.
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youspurs1, Getting them on is easy, getting the bastid things off is the hard bit
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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getting the bastid things off is the hard bit
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Agreed. takes far longer. Our current set have a sort of pull thing, which undoes the bit that does up at the back (sorry about the technical language...). When it works, it's great. Triggers the whole thing off. But when it sticks, occasionally, it's a bit of a sod.
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i tried to fit mine onto the van last week in the snow here in manchester, first time i have ever done it, took me about 15 mins for the first one, then the second one i gave up, the chains looked different and they just didnt look right at all, think im ging to buy some new ones, these were from halfords, can anyone recommend a good place to buy some???
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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What are snow chains like to use in Britain when you're often going from snow to no snow ? For instance I like up near the Peak District and if you via Buxton there's often plenty of snow, but down in the valleys there is nothing. What happens when you come out of the snow - should you take them straight off as soon as you hit roads with no snow ?
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the chains looked different
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 weren't they a pair? How odd.
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should you take them straight off as soon as you hit roads with no snow ?
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Yes. Does your tyres no good at all driving on unsnowy roads with chains on. It's a right pain if you know you'll have to put them on again in a few hours, but you have to bite the bullet. It's all good practice. After a few times it all becomes rather easier.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Pamski wrote: |
| I think someone mentioned on here a few months ago seeing a driver take each wheel off his car to fit the chain and then refit it. May not have been so stupid after all - or perhaps he should have watched youtube too. |
I do similar, but just keep two spare wheels with chains already fitted up on the roof racks. Use a trolley jack with the wheels cut off, jack the truck up and swap the wheels. It's loads quicker and easier to do. Also, it can be a fair bit easier to get chains on the wheels if you drive up on to a couple of bits of 4 * 2 first.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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A head torch is a big help in the dark
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Oh yes, for sure...
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Poster: A snowHead
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It's loads quicker and easier to do
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Hmm. Maybe on some vehicles, but it takes me only a couple of minutes to get my chains on. And we wouldn't have room for extra wheels and a trolley jack!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ArseneWengen, everything I've ever heard about them suggests that they shouldn't be used on 'naked' tarmac. I believe tyre damage can result.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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pam w, nor would we. We've never had to use ours, even in bad conditions, the winter tyres and 4 wheel drive have been enough so far, but have practised anyway.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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halfhand, fab. I am thinking of getting some myself.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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He must be a hill walking regular. 
(A lot of my hill walking buddies have these. If you live in places that snows in the winter once in a while, but freezes a lot, these things are quite handy)
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abc, They were issued by the post office to their delivery staff.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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halfhand, Roofbox company usually keep them, but they are out of stock.
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Helen Beaumont, try yaktrax
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FAQ
) to just "buy some if you need them" 
I can never be bothered to practice in advance though 
