Cabling constitutes a failure that might be retrievable but as such can seriously affect the performance of the rope system. The torsional characteristics of the system are very different before and after cabling, and theoretical models are given for both situation. Laboratory tests were performed on both two and four rope systems, with measurments being made of torque at rotations from 0 to 360 deg. Tests were run with different rope spacings, tensions and lengths and the results compared with predictions from the theoretical model. The conclusion from the test results was that the theoretical model predicts both the pre- and post-cabling torsional behaviour with an acceptable level of accuracy.