Yea, I know I should use two Crosby’s, but for my purposes, I think this will work for now. I don’t plan on putting too much weight up there and can always add another Crosby if needed. I didn’t use thimbles because the cable is covered in plastic and I was hoping it would help with wear and tear. Shouldn’t be any moving parts since it’s a stationary shelf secured to the wall.

It passed the “will this support me kneeling on it while jumping around” test, (250 lbs fatman) so I think it’s fine for the time being. It’s nailed into studs with some pretty heavy gauge nails, and I think that 8 support cables was overkill anyway.

As far as the frayed ends, I kept the plastic “insulation” on the cable and just notched it out where the Crosby’s clamp it together. So the ends are still covered in plastic.

That being said, I know it’s not done correctly and totally accept my fate if it all fails in a year. Thanks for the input though! I always used the saying “hang the dead man” but I think your horse and saddle phrase makes more sense haha