I've had this AWESOME climber for 3 years now and I am finally noticing some cosmetic wear and tear on the rubber coating on the cables. I'm fairly confident that this will not effect the use of my stands capabilities. My question is when or does a person need to replace or recoat the climbing cables??? Any thoughts, comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

The rubber is used for quieter climbing, that's it. You can order them through Summit.

You can buy the shrink tubes for the summit stands through summit, bass pro/cabelas, or my local archery store usually has them in stock.. Very simple to do, and makes a big difference.

I have used the same viper for 12 years. I almost don't have any tubing left on the cables.

I really should recoat them. Without the coating, they make a lot of noise climbing. Doesn't affect the operation at all

No worries, as long as the cable isn't fraying or have wire's coming apart you good.

I bought the heat shrink tubing for my Summit off of ebay for about $6.00 or so .It worked out real well.

I replace mine every season, it does make a difference in the noise, but there is no operational worries if yours is worn out. The tubing is very easy to put on.

Rock on!!! All of the replies confirmed kinda what I thought in the first place. Thank you so much for all posts.....hope everyones season is going well.

I hunt a lot. I go up and down trees at least 50 times a season. That said the tubing does not last and you will have metal to metal clanking f you dont fix it. I just spiral wrap duct tape around all the worn part. Do cut off the old black tubing so it isnt too thick to fit in the slots. Camo duct tape looks nice on the cabels and typically lasts WAY longer than the shrink tubing. Just cut off and replace as needed

I'm an idiot. Just ordered new tubes. Thanks for not telling me this three days ago.