Real quick. To pack it you shorten the cables as much as possible by sliding them into the stand. Fit the foot portion inside the seat part and use a couple bungie cords to hold it in place and keep it from rattling. These also come in handy to hold your coat or whatever while packing the thing in and out, soyou don't get all sweaty.

Take a piece of cord (rope) and tie it to the seat portion somewhere to use as a haul-up rope. Just wrap it around the stand for packing. Then just leave it on the stand so you can never forget it. I like a 20' piece as it lets me gauge how high I am going. Something else useful is to shorten the seat straps so you don't sit down in the stand too deeply just in case you might get one of those shots from a sitting position.

You probably don't need new cables. They don't break. The rubber may wear off them, but this doesn't hurt anything.

One word of caution. We would like to hear from you in the future so DO NOT leave the ground without a full body harness. Learn to put one on and how to move it as you climb up and down. If you've never fallen just consider that your first time might be your last, and it won't be the stand's fault.

Now go practice. Set the stand on a tree with the front end at about a 25 degree up angle. It'll flatten out some as you climb the tree, as the tree gets smaller the higher you climb. This becomes a trial and error thing. That's why I say practice. Take your time and be quiet and safe.