These safety precautions are to ensure that you can enjoy a fun, scientific hobby that yields you high quality rewards for minimal effort and cost, but you get to live to do it again. If this is not done with the utmost safety you could be injured with 3rd degree burns, your house could burn down, you and perhaps multiple people could be killed. Always check local laws regarding this and only do it in areas that it is legal.
1. You want to find somewhere OUTSIDE where you are hidden from the view of your neighbors but is well ventilated. Like inside a storage shed is a terrible place. A mildly windy day is best. If can put your back to a fence away from your house that's perfect if you aren't confined in any way. If you're near a sensor light, make sure you don't do it at a time in the day where it could turn on because it could cause an explosion.
2. The most dangerous parts of this are when you are filling your extractor with butane and when it's evaporating out of your Pyrex dish. So, before you do anything retrieve a small desk fan, an extension cord, and duct tape. You want to plus the extension cord in somewhere inside your house, have a closed door separating you from where you plugged in, and run it outside to where you will be. If that's not an option find an outside outlet that is at least 50 feet away to plug into and run your cord to your blasting station.
3. Plug your fan into the cord and wrap the connection of the two cords in duct tape so that its sealed from any possible chance of butane getting inside. If there are any exterior outlets that are live and exposed cover them with duct tape.
4. Position your fan so that it is just to the left or right of you and facing up and away from you on full blast directly over the Pyrex dish. Two fans are way better but you can manage with one.
5. Use way overly cautious common sense. (I've blasted over 20 times, and nothing has ever happened and that's because I'm extremely anal about safety).
6. Make sure everyone around you who could possibly ruin it knows what you're doing and read this to them so that they fully understand that this is no joke and could be life threatening if these precautions aren't followed exactly. Ways that other people could "f@@k" you over include coming out and lighting a cigarette, turn an exterior light on, open the door leading into the house.
7. If you have dogs or toddlers definitely don't let them be able to be around you at all because they could step in it, distract you, or just cause unnecessary mayhem.
8. This maybe is over the top, but your body carries static electricity, and it potentially could cause a tiny arc that could ignite the butane gas. So, its super easy to discharge yourself. You just touch something that is grounded out. Like before you begin hold a coin and touch it to a metal bucket or whatever metal object is near you. Also don't wear rubber soled shoes and wear cotton clothes. It definitely is something that could happen. At some gas stations there is a warning that says to discharge first if you have to grab the pump handle before it shuts itself off.
If you go over safety two or three times and you are thorough about it, you will have nothing to worry about. I want people to enjoy this awesome hobby as I have and not get hurt in the process.