Great tips, great wisdom! It did not occur to me that older tires are a little smaller than new ones. Yes, these are middle-aged tires (three years) but it is always possible that I could replace them with new ones and would then need the extra slack. So no, I won't cut the extra links!
I like the idea of a carabiner on the extra link, especially the one on the inside of the tire -- it would be hard to reach in and twist a wire (and then un-twist it when it is time to remove the chains).
Thanks, folks!! This is exactly the kind of exchange of "best practices" that this forum is known for. (An awkwardly-built sentence, but you get what I mean.)
