Autosock

I live at a 7,200 elevation in a cabin in the mountains of Northern Colorado. For the past 19 years I have lived with the task of having to use tire chains to get down the mountain. For years I struggled with the old fashioned heavy chains that you had to layout on the ground and drive over just right, then struggled to get the hooks together and then use rubber chain tighteners. After that ordeal you have to come back in the house to warm up before you drive down! Those where then replaced by a set of cables that were easier in slipping around the back in one piece, but still quite cumbersome.

One day as I was parked at the bottom taking my chains off, I saw a neighbor drive by with this cover over her tire. The orange stripes caught my attention and I wondered what they were. I walked over to where she was parked and asked her about them. She said her husband was a big rig driver and that these were approved by the department of transportation as a chain alternative. I figured if truck drivers trusted them enough on our mountain passes they were worth a try.

I looked them up online and found that there was a distributer in Denver and drove down to get a set. They were a little over $100 for a set of two. I went home and did a practice run. They slipped right over the top half of the tire, then I drove forward and slide the other half over. Could it really be this easy? As you drive they self adjust for the perfect fit.

On my maiden voyage after a snow I was apprehensive. Could some fabric really prevent me from slipping off the road into the ditch or off the mountain. The answer is Yes. I drove down slowly of course without a slip. The next text came one day during an ice storm. As I got to our first switchback traffic was backed up because someone went off the road and they had to get it moved for others to pass.

I got out of my car and slipped all over trying to walk over to my neighbor to chat. I got back in the car and drove a little and hit my breaks and I stopped dead, no sliding.

I’ve been using them for 5 years now. I’m on my second pair and will need to replace them for next year. Since our roads are a combo of pavement and gravel they do get tears in the fabric, but they kind of mend themselves. The outer mesh starts to tear at the seam after a lot of taking them on and off due to being frozen and wet they need some tugging to get off. You can throw them in the washer if you want. I just keep them in a plastic bag in the back of the SUV.

The Autosock website http://autosock.us, has some great info about the technology they came up with for the fabric to make it get sticky when it interacts with a cold surface. When the inventor was a kid his grandmother used to take her socks and turn them inside out and put them over her shoes, the pilling somehow made her not slip and that was his inspiration. I love that.

You don’t need to live in the mountains and have use them under such extreme conditions, they are great on pavement and just riding around town when it’s slick. Just that extra comfort is worth a lot in my book.

—Liz