In the Navy, we used a fancy traveling guide system to ensure the cable laid on the drum in even layers on inhaul. Much too complicated, expensive, and heavy for civvie use. But these were 75 & 100 HP electro-hydraulic winches used for at-sea transfer of cargo.
A roller fairlead is good, but it won't do the job by itself. It mostly keeps the cable from chaffing on non-straight pulls.
I've had winches on 4x4's for over 30 years for fun and profit. I've always used a length of broomstick with my winches... usually the dumb end of a windshield squeegee, about 18" long. Angle it in on the side of the cable away from the direction you want to move the cable, under the cable. Lift up against the baseplate as you spool in. Change sides as needed. Not perfect, but you can usually get a pretty even lay. The cable should always be laid on under tension. Otherwise the outer layers may crush a spot on the layer below.
My 8K Warn on the Toyota needs respooling now, since I was rushed last time I used it to pull a poplar out of the creek on the greenway. Tomorrow would be a good day to respool it. I'll take a few pics, and see if I can post them sometime in the near future (learning to use my new smartphone).
I'm sure synthetic rope is fine, but I learned on steel, and know what it can do if it's not abused. If your cable was cutting thru leather gloves, sounds like it had been over-stressed or laid on unevenly in a hard pull. Once you start breaking strands, they form little fishhooks.
Jim, "I asked the woman in the bookstore where the self-help section was. She said that telling me would defeat the purpose."
