I too have the older one with the straight braces that go from the platform up toward the tree. The newer Vipers arms are curved for just that reason. About the only thing you can do is make sure your heat shrink is in great shape with no metal exposed and wrap the very end of your cables with some electrical tape to pad them. Also when packing the stand make sure you store the cables inside the tubes as far as they will go, all the way to the last lug on the cable.
By the way..... Do you know what else the Viper cables can be used for.... Yep, JUMPER CABLES !!! I got stranded on my Polaris ATV one time with a buddy who is an electrician. My son Mason was around 4-5 yrs old and was notorious for getting on my ATV in the garage during the week and pretend he was driving like dad. He would always manage to leave the lights on and kill my battery. I got tired of buying batteries so I just started using the pull rope to start. That is okay, but not the intended purpose of the pull rope, it is for emergencies only really.
Well one evening at dark after my bud and I had shot a fat doe, we yanked the pull rope and it broke ! Now what..... You cannot push or roll off a Polaris due to the automatic transmission. I thought we were in for a long walk when my bud said well, let's jump your ATV off with mine. I said with what, a stick or something ? He proceeded to start pulling my Viper cables out of my stand and said,, " No, we will use these Summit Jumper Cables, haha " Took his pocket knife , stripped heat shrink from the ends and walla, Summit Jumper Cables !!!
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