Autosock instead of snow tires?

Consumer Reports said it would work in a pinch, but that it was clearly inferior to snow tires.

I haven't posted enough here to post links, but you can go to consumerreports.org,
and typie in "autosock" in the search area. The review is publicly-available content there.

 

They look sorta stupid, and can't be used "where chains are required," which to me would make them worthless.

How about just gritting your teeth and snapping on a pair of "cable chains."

Simple to put on and $25 versus the $140 for the "socks," which sound like they will wear out pretty quickly. SCC Radial Chain

 

They intrigued me enough to buy some - they have just arrived this evening. I have no snow to test them in yet.

The quote about snow tires comes from the end of the CR post, and runs thus: "Finally, AutoSock warns that it's not a substitute for winter tires—we agree." But the post was really about a different use case:

So, what if the solution was something you could grab from your trunk and apply to the tires in a few minutes, getting the family to the cozy comfort of home and the car tucked away, safe from passing snow plows? There are two products on the market that claim to deliver added tire grip to get out of a tight spot like this or worse: Tyre Grip and AutoSock.
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For that purpose, the review clearly found that the AutoSock performed:

The all-season tires failed to climb to the top of the snow-covered grade. Adding Tyre Grip did give a bit more starting traction, but not enough to reach the top of the hill. But with the AutoSock over the front drive tires, the Accord actually made it up the hill on numerous attempts. The winner here: AutoSock.
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For my purposes, I don't usually see enough snow here to want dedicated winter tires and a set of wheels to store. Nokian WRs might have been an option, but even they might be overkill here and I had just bought a set of Harmonies anyway so that ship has left the dock. For something I can have in the trunk and quickly fit onto the tires when I just need some extra grip, the AutoSock seemed worth a try. I don't really care how they look; I wouldn't decorate my living room with cable chains either.

I only bought one pair. Tire Rack wants to sell them in sets of four to avoid creating a handling problem. The manufacturer doesn't insist on that. CR did note that a single pair does impair handling. I would get another pair if (my first pair seems effective and) I expect to drive any distance on them, but for the purpose of getting unstuck, I'll just plan to keep slow and careful.

The price at Tire Rack is good, but they don't have product. A notice comes up saying they don't know when they'll have more. I went to Amazon for $10 more.

-Chap