A back shell apparatus receives a cable having conductors extending through the apparatus for attaching to a connector. The back shell includes at least two clam shell halves that mate to surround the conductors. The back shell allows for angular configurations of the cable and connector by including flexible bellows through which the conductors extend. The bellows are respectively expandable and retractable about the conductors. The back shell apparatus further includes a modular cable adapter that receives a respectively sized cable terminus from which the conductors extend into the bellows toward a connector. The back shell apparatus further includes a coupling nut adapter holding a respectively sized coupling nut that mates with the connector.

A fabric sleeve in the form of a strip of material having compatible attachment members along its lateral edges, is applied to a cable by a device located at a site where the cable can be introduced into a conduit. The device includes a beam carried by a post. The beam carries a plurality of formers which receive the sleeve and the cable from rolls and which progressively fold the sleeve around the cable. The beam also carries an attachment device which receives the sleeve and cable from the formers and which connects the attachment members of the sleeve to confine the cable therein. The attachment device can be opened so that the sleeved cable can be removed. The device is operated at the site until the sleeved cable reaches a downstream installation site and the process is repeated at that downstream site.