Hi guys

I'm preparing for a winter trip across Russia, from Magadan back to Europe. Plan is to stay as much as possible on ice roads, only using regular all-weather roads when there is no safe alternative (by safe I mean a winter road which is used by others).

So on ice roads I anticipate lightly compacted snow, and fresh snow if it has recently snowed. On all weather roads I anticipate hard packed snow or ice.

I am going to buy six tyres, most likely in Russia. My options are:

Unstudded northern winter tyres (e.g. Nokian Hakkapeliita) - these will be legal in Europe when I leave Russia / Baltic countries, but I understand do not give the same level of control on ice and hard snow.

Studded northern winter tyres - these I understand are excellent for hard packed snow and ice, making driving much safer, but they are illegal in most European countries, so I will need to have at least four non-studded tyres for when I cross out of Russia.

Snow chains - I have never used these, but I guess these are good for fresh snow that is not too thick. I imagine they are pretty bad on hard ice though?

So my question, finally, is whether I can use snow chains in studded tyres? A winter traveler told me no, but frankly I don't really see why, as the chain should not be moving radially about the tyre?

I need decide what my tyre selection will be. Right now I am thinking 2 studded tyres and 4 unstudded (all winter of course), and two or four sets of chains.

The truck is switchable RWD / 4WD and so I was thinking studded on the rear axle and unstudded on the front and spares, so that I have a set of Euro-legal tyres. Then the chains can go on when the snow gets a bit thick.

Any wiser suggestions? Maybe four studded instead? From previous winter driving in RWD, I found that it was the rear axle causing the problems rather than the front, hence my thinking to have studded only on the rear.

I will be travelling alone in some pretty remote places safety is important; a small off into a snow bank could lead to a very unpleasant wait for a tow.

Thanks for any input,

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.