1. First, and MOST IMPORTANT, NEVER use a propane or any other type of a stove in or around any tents or near any combustible material; the heat could produce a fire.

2. READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. Make sure you have all the correct parts for your type of stove. NEVER try to use a stove part for another type of stove, even if it looks like it may work. You are asking for trouble.

3. Be sure you have everything to operate your stove. Be able to name all its parts. It could be embarrassing being on a Girl Scout trip and saying to your assistant leader, "Give me that "thing-a-ma-bob."

4. Look carefully at all the threaded ends. Make sure they are in good condition. Look for any nick or signs of cross threading. If you find a problem, take it to a repair center.

5. After confirming everything is in good working order, put your stove together. ALL pieces that screw together, are HAND TIGHTENED ONLY. NEVER USE A WRENCH. The only time you would use a wrench is on the large bulk tank. This tank comes in either a 5 lb., 10 lb., or 20 lb. size. An extension hose is used with this tank and is available from your camping supplier. NOTE: hose attaches to the tank with LEFT HANDED THREADS. This is done so that no other thing can be attached to the tank.

6. After opening your stove, find the propane bottle hook-up pipe. Yours may or may not look like the one pictured here, but they all work in the same general way. Attach it to the side of your stove as per the manufacturers instructions. 

7. Next attach the propane bottle making sure there are NO OPEN FLAMES in the area and you or anyone else is not smoking. Keep your face away from the connection while hooking this up. Sometimes a small amount of propane will escape. This is O.K. as long as it stops after your bottle is well seated.

8. Some stoves have a main turn-on valve attached to the bottle connection. If yours does, make sure your burner valves are closed BEFORE you open this valve. If it is not so equipped, light a match and ignite the burner closest to the side of the propane bottle connection. Open the burner valve slowly about 1/4 of a turn. Bring the lit match close to the burner. It should light after one or two seconds. If not, make sure your propane bottle has propane in it. A full bottle weighs more than an empty one. If the bottle is alright, then recheck your connections. Try it again. NEVER leave the burner valve open without a flame or you could get a flash when you try to relight it. Once you have a flame on the first burner, you can light the second in the same manner.

9. Always let your stove cool down before either closing or packing it away. Rule of thumb: take your hand and hold it about 2 or 3 inches away from the stove. If you can still feel heat, it's too hot to put away.

10. Propane stoves are one of the safest and cheapest ways today to cook in the outdoors. They give you good service, are easy on the environment, help save fallen wood that would otherwise be used for cooking.