a dead cable end distributes holding force over a length of a cable end to reduce or eliminate damage to cables . the dead cable end includes a housing containing a plurality of collets each residing in a collet receptacle . each collet includes a conical exterior and a lengthwise collet gap and each collet receptacle includes a conical interior . the collets and collet receptacle are held inside the housing by a retaining nut , and the collet and collet receptacle pairs are compressed between the retaining nut and a spring inside the housing . the cable end resides inside the collets , and compressive force on each collet and collet receptacle pair causes each collet to compress radially and hold the cable end . the holding force is thereby distributed over the length of each collet and over the plurality of collet and receptacle pairs to avoid damage to the cable .