Hi Keith,
Been doing the same thing as you, looking into chains or cables for an upcoming trip to British Columbia. I tried a set of chains similar to the diamond tire chain pictured on the car page of tirechains.com When I installed them I actually pulled one of the loops through which you tighten the chain apart, merely by hand tightening! I can't be certain if they are the same manufacturer, but from the photos they look identical...anyways I tried them out in our farmyard through 12" of snow and they worked super! Just like 4WD. Appeared to be lots of clearance between the chains and car. Nonetheless, after my fun I returned them to Canadian Tire for a refund.
My VW dealership in Winnipeg drew a blank regarding chains...I don't think anyone had ever asked them about chains before.
I contacted an automotive journalist from BC and he has had good luck with cable chains with his Michelin Arctic Alpin tires. I'll be getting some cable chains because I think their profile is less than diamond tire chains.
What I'll likely end up doing is stopping in Calgary and picking up the cable chains there from Kal tire, which has tire stores all over BC, and hopefully some expertise in the matter. They have chain info on the web at:
http://www.kaltire.com/retail/services/chains.php
There's gobs of other tire chain info on the web, as I've found out in the last couple of weeks.
You may have seen what happens when people have the incorrect size, go too fast or don't retighten their chains shortly after installation...gruesome effects on wheel well, car body, etc.
Sorry to run off at the mouth about an issue I know very little about...hope it helps,
Don