clearing windshields and yak traks

[wren]

boy and I thought I’d left the snow behind in Chicago. I’m used to driving in the flatlands in snow, but not on hills. I’m snowed in way up near 57th Street.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to clear thick ice on windshields and windows. (I know not to pour hot water on them)

Also is there a place near by that I can buy a pair of yak traks – does anyone recommend a particular brand?

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[Bostonman]

In Boston they sold cans of de-icer you could spray on your windhishields. Here I usually just let the heater run until I can scrape the ice off the windshield.

Of course there is no sense in doing that since I can’t get up the hill.

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[wren]

thanks Bostonman – that is true – in my case I can’t get down the hill right now. I do like to try to keep the car reasonably clear and warm it up occasionally though.

silly question maybe – but how does one know when it is safe to try to the neighborhood roads?

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[Kimberley]

Listen to see if you hear vehicles going past your house? We ventured out last night and cruised around checking out road conditions and drove slowly this morning and managed to get out okay. Like Bostonman (I guess us Bostonians stick together) I let the car heat up this morning and scraped the ice off when the windshield had heated up.

Check with Mountain to Sound, to see if they carry yak trax, also maybe Ace or Target.

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[mae64]

They had YAK trax at the juntion ace hardware earlier

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[Kevin]

@wren, my advice is just stay put! No need to waste your gas and time to defrost your car if you are not going anywhere. Nature will take care of it once we enter the defrost stage.

.

Meanwhile, hopefully you have enough food on hand for another day or so. It is just not worth losing a car over.

.

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[wren]

thanks all for your thoughts. I’ll make some calls about those Yak Traks. I am will watch traffic going by my house (not much). I’m hoping to get out tomorrow, but I will be very cautious.

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[Bostonman]

Roads aren’t that bad, I just made it up Erskine with bald tires and made it to Les Schwab for new ones. With the new tires I had no issues anywhere.

Rave for Les Schwab, 4 tires in less than 30 minutes. In and out smooth like butter.

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[Sue]

Wren, they do make de-icer spray for windshields, but I haven’t had to use that since I moved here. And thankfully our car is garaged. As for YakTrax, I’ve always ordered them by mail, so don’t know where to buy the locally. If you don’t find them and want them for next time, I order from yaktrax.com – they’ve really made a difference for me in getting out in bad weather. Won’t work well on the slick ice we had (too slick to get a grip and almost make it worse) but great otherwise.

Once this weird weather is gone, we’ll have to try again re: getting together. I’ll email you.

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[datamuse]

We cracked the ice on our windshield last night using a (plastic) snow shovel after running the defrost for about 10 minutes. But I agree, if you don’t gotta be somewhere then leave it.

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[wren]

Hi everybody

Yak Tracks and deicer are on my shopping list when I get out of here.

Sue do email me, let’s get together.

I am hoping to get out tomorrow, so I will be out early to see how the roads look and try to crack the ice on my windshield

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[Garden_nymph]

Try Costco for the Yak Traks.

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[jissy]

wren; think I saw a couple different versions of trax at REI about 2 weeks ago.

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[AlkiMac]

A search on REI.com for Yaktrax:

http://www.rei.com/search?query=microspikes

The Microspikes are spendy , but they are awesome in ice and snow and are highly rated.

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[SeekingEuros]

Anyone tried Spider-Spikes? They sound so much easier than chains. This video is not in English, but ts sbtill understandable. Curious if they work very well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB07FLxi_s8&sns=em

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