I have a River' s Edge Bandit chain-on stand though I did not get it from Cabelas. I believe what they usually recommend is for you to actually leave a little slack in the chain when the stand is perpendicular to the chain on the tree. What happens is that when weight is applied to the stand it shifts down the trunk and the chain is at an angle to the straightness of the tree trunk. This causes the pivot points to be at a hard angle to one another and eliminates the problem you mentioned you were having.