Originally Posted by
MurphyWasRight
Real question may be how many twists the torque developed by stretcher will induce on the cable before the opposing torque from the twisted cable matches, not whether the cable catastrophically fails.
No-one mentioned the cable "catastrophically failing".
If the cable "birdcages" it will probably not be possible to rewind it back onto the winch drum and depending on the circumstances might have to be physically cut by the winch op. Winches have a cable cutting guillotine device to allow this to be done in an emergency situation.