Heres how we do it... We go to wal mart and buy the 20ft dog cables. It usually only takes one cable for the 15 ft ladder stand. We wrap it around the tree and then go around each section and then lock the 2 ends together... Pretty simple. The deer dont even notice the color of the cable which is red.. It will also help secure the stand but we make sure the stand is secure before we ever put it on there...