The 123 is one of the most dependable hiking, self pressurizing stove. It takes Coleman fuel. Place a bit of fuel or alcohol (burns cleaner) in the circular depression around the base of the verticle stem. Make sure valve is off. Light the prime fuel and let it heat the stem and burner section of the stove. This will allow the fuel to vaporize as it rises in the stem and contacts the hot metal (important). After being heat primed and the exterior prime flame is out, turn the valve to on and light vapor as it jets from hair like hole at top of stem. Once lit the stove is self pressurizing from the heat it generates. As an alernative you can use a small pocket torch and heat the stem. It is cleaner and sometimes more convienent. If it does not function properly you need to check the vapor port to make sure it is not clogged. There are very thin wire picks available for clearing clogs. Also check out spiritburner.com , a site for stove collectors with tons of info on these and other such stoves. Good luck. Let me know if you get it running. Gordon, a stove collector.
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