I always have a set for the back, haven't used them on the front of vehicles much. All my vehicles have a factory limited slip except my beater truck I put a Detroit Locker in. The chains on the back end are good for making a vehicle move forward (or sometimes sideways if not careful with the limited slip). Turning can be accomplished with a combination of steering wheel and throttle. I got lots of practice with that running chains on a UTV with a solid rear axle.
I have a kit I throw in the vehicles for hunting trips in remote areas. Hi Lift jack with several accessories (winch kit, bumper and wheel lift kits, bigger base plate, repair pin and spring kit). I also have a Smittybilt winch anchor, shovel, folding bowsaw, axe, chains, spare tow rope, clevis, tire chains, and a pair of 4ft sections of bridge plank with rubber round baler belt screwed down to them. They can be a mini-bridge to get past a wash-out or put under the wheel for a traction aid, an anti-slip extra big base for the Hi Lift, use your imagination. I also take water and food for several days more than I plan on being out.
That stuff is in addition to the normal stuff I carry all the time, 12V compressor, tire plug kit, 4 way wrench, 1/2" break over bar with cheater pipe, sockets to fit the lug nuts and tensioner on serpentine belt, spare serpentine belt, pry bar, hammer, 3/8" socket set and ratcheting end wrench set, baling wire, fuse kit, gorilla tape, flashlight and headlamp, 5x7 nylon Walmart tarp (help stay drier and cleaner under truck), cell phone charger, compact 12V jumper pack, 30ft tow rope, two clevises, 12ft chain, med kit. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff but that's the main ones. Most of my vehicles are old enough tools are still handy because there are still things you can fix yourself. The 2012 truck not so much.
My truck has a toolbox I clean out and re-organize before trips, make that stuff fit in or around it. It is always hooked to the hay or stock trailer and sometimes needed at home even when I'm gone. This summer I bought a 98 Suburban I'm going to use for more of my hunting and fishing trips. It had leather seats and I added a vinyl floor, so it's kinda unique. Anyway I'm going to build a wooden frame for the cargo area this fall so I have a wooden floor that is the same height as the back seat when laid down. The area underneath the wood floor will be somewhere around 7" tall (need to measure) and I can stick the emergency gear under it. That way I have room for coolers, packs, and other gear on top while staying somewhat organized. I want to make a longer set of bridge plank ramps for it to carry on the luggage rack for trips.
I know my list is way overboard. When younger and dumber I got lots of practice being stuck. Then I was around home and if I couldn't get out I could find help. I helped lots of others get unstuck too, I made sure to always have at least a log chain along. Getting stuck a long way from anywhere in a state where I don't know many people I want to be extra self-sufficient.
Then you need to shovel just to get them on. That is when the creative swearing really starts. I am glad I have been alone all the times I have used chains. Anyway, they are good to have for emergencies.
