ZipLineGear

Have you ever tried tying a knot with steel cable? If you haven’t already- don’t bother. Tying off a steel cable requires the use of cable clamps, otherwise known as wire rope clips. The cable is folded around something called a thimble, or a tree in some cases, and is clamped back to itself with three of these nifty clamps. It goes something like this:

Step 1: Turn back the specified amount of cable from the thimble. Apply the first clip one base width from the cut end of the wire rope (U-bolt over cut end – live end rests in clip saddle). Tighten nuts evenly to recommended torque.

Step 2: Apply the next clamp as near the loop as possible (when using a thimble). Twist on nuts firmly but do not tighten.

Step 3: Place the third clamp equally between the first two, take up the slack, and tighten all nuts evenly on all clamps to recommended torque.

Step 4: Perform a weight test on the cable and retighten all clamps to the specified torque- cable will stretch and shrink slightly when tension is applied.

The following table provides the recommended torque for each size cable clamp; if you don’t have a torque wrench, just keep them tight and check periodically for slippage.

Cable clamps can also be used to create a loop around the entire anchor, instead of just a small loop for hardware connections. It’s pretty straight forward- I think the only concern is to make sure the cable loop doesn’t come out from the first clamp at too large of an angle (keep the first clamp a reasonable distance from the tree/pole).