I have 100' of 3/8" aircraft cable that's been sitting around waiting to be dressed with a sleeve and thimble on each end, but I'm having a hard time finding quality components - nothing I've seen so far is stamped with the rated strength or otherwise indicates that the full working load limit (about 3,000 lbs) of the cable would be developed. Most of it appears to be cheap imported fodder, found in loose bins. I don't feel comfortable relying on such gear, as the cable is part of my recovery kit. Few of the industrial supply houses I've been to even carry 3/8" rigging at all - even Grainger, which is where I bought the cable! If anyone knows where some clearly rated sleeve and thimble kits can be found I'd love to hear it.
I'm also looking for a cheap alternative to a hand held swager- these are usually $200 or so. Seems I remember hearing something about a device made from two plates and a couple of bolts that is torqued down to a known value in order to achieve the same result as one of the compound leverage hand swagers. Thoughts?