Snow socks are ideal for getting out of a stuck position, but dont forget you can only do upto 30MPH with then and they will soon burn out on tarmac so for most people they will only be used for 100-200 meters until they get to clear tarmac.
All depends on the situation I suppose. I wouldn't want to be doing much more that 30 on tarmac roads with chains on.
In the Alps the roads are completely covered in snow so there is no tarmac visable.
When we had the big snowfalls in Bristol over the last couple of years, all the side roads were completely snow/ice covered and it tool a couple of days before the main roads became snow free. The side roads remained iced over for ages.
Quick to fit once you know how, loads more grip than with chains.
I have both chains and socks provided by the company, in the deep snow earlier this year the snow socks were good but when I got stuck on the back roads over the Pennines the socks had to come off and the chains went on.
Admittedly it was so deep that the snow drift I drove into stopped my door from opening, so I had to climb out of the window and spent half and hour digging enough clearance to get the chains on. But once they were on it turned the front on my Sharan into a snowplough and it pulled itself out .
I bought a set of snow-socks for my Merc two winters ago and found they worked well. Well enough that I was able to drive round all the stuck front-wheel drive Audi's that seemed to be abandoned around here.
My car doesn't have enough clearance for chains and while snow tyres would be better it's a lot of cash for very, very occasional need. I didn't need the snow-socks at all last winter.
