Various forms of a cable fixation device, instrumentation, kit, and methods useful for repairing the skeletal system are introduced. The system utilizes a clamp housing fixing a butt end of a surgical cable therein. In an operative configuration the cable is looped around a damaged bone segment and reentered through a lock aperture in the clamp housing then through a collet and lock cap residing within the lock aperture. The cable loop and each aforementioned component comprise a central axis aligned within a single plane. A sliding interface situated between the lock cap and collet prevent twisting of the surgical cable. The locking mechanism is non-destructive to the cable despite repeated unlocking and relocking of the fixation device. The axis for tensioning of the cable is coincident with the locking axis. A counter torque instrument has a torsional input shaft generally perpendicular to the elongated axis of the instrument.
