For a change I'm early with winter tyres on the car I'm usually driving as the law regarding those has changed recently. Calender used to be the only defining factor when winter tyres where mandatory but now they're mandatory when "driving conditions so demand" but the interpretation is left, not surprisingly, to police rather than to drivers themselves so avoid problems I'm early. In practice nothing much has changed especially for those like me who're not on spiked winter tyres.
Modern tire technology offers drivers a range of choices suited to specific conditions. Dan Neil on the ones that grip best when the rubber meets the snow—and why they excel.
Studded tires are a bit iffy since most of the time ones (kitkarenkaat = friction tires as those are called here) are better, more convenient & for the sake of environment & economy much better but in those few days in a year when the road surface is clear ice just inadequate. The other thing is that as long as 10-15% cars have studded tires the rest are most often fine. Most interesting trip I've made on non-spiked winter tires was one xmas night I came home from my parents on road condititions closely resembling speed skating arena - almost 5hrs for a1.5hrs trip with some serious concentration on driving.
Hakkapeliitta, though, is clearly the winter tyre choice for any Civ player unless one has some serious antipathy against Sweden. Lately the major has been that Nokian Tyres has/had major factories in Russia and their tires were common in new cars sold in Finland. For some mysterious reason since February most resellers if not all already offer a free change of tires if the original set is Nokian - made in Russia or not.
As for local weather, exceptionally unexceptional for weeks. Temp flatlining @ -2 or -3 C and that's about it. Few cm of snow so the ground is nice white and not muddy at all.
Probably for the same reason I did sidewalk clearing multiple times before the snow was done: It's easier to clear less snow more times than risk back injury or heart attack trying to do it all at once.
This is true wisdom right here. The only downside is that if the snow is falling fast enough you're crunching it under your feet as you shovel and it will then form ice that's glued to the pavement.
This is true wisdom right here. The only downside is that if the snow is falling fast enough you're crunching it under your feet as you shovel and it will then form ice that's glued to the pavement.
That's what long-handled ice chippers are good for.
I never had the strength to use shovels effectively, so I attacked the snow with brooms. The ice chipper was for ice and whatever snow got stepped on before I could get rid of it. The only times this was especially hard were if there was a lot of wet snow or if the conditions were basically a dry blizzard. Lots of snow but it wouldn't stay put.
I started sweeping while standing in the doorway and worked my way out to the sidewalk. I tried to make sure things got clear before the kids were out walking to school and the mailman and paper carriers were out and around.
I especially didn't want my typing clients to have a hard time getting from their cars to the house. So many of them never bothered to wear boots, especially if they lived in the residences at the college.
Fortunately I no longer have to clear the snow myself. That's what the maintenance staff is for. But if I do go out in the winter, I keep a small broom handy to sweep the snow off the wheels of my walker before entering the place I'm going. Otherwise, it instantly melts into a puddle and annoys the hell out of the staff there (especially those in doctors' offices).
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
www.wsj.com
