CABLE GUARDS & CABLE GUARD SLIDES A cable guard is an essential part of a modern compound bow and is used to move the cables away from the string to allow clearance for the arrow and fletchings. The cable guard also helps to keep tension on the cables and remove some vibrations. Some early model bows had wide wheels which did not need to use a cable guard. Cable guard slides fit on the cable guard and the cables to avoid cable wear and keep the cables seperated from each other and come in a wide range of styles. As well as the individual cable guards illustrated, we also have some of earlier model Hoyt cable guards such as the 1999 model shown.