Rey's survival guide was a survival guide written by the scavenger Rey while living on the planet Jakku, around thirty years after the Battle of Endor. The guide detailed regions of the planet, other occupants, and Rey's life, from her early years to her eventual escape from the world.
Rey began writing her survival guide some time before meeting BB-8, as a means of recreation and as a reference source for future scavengers who found themselves lost and trapped on Jakku. With that in mind, most of the information Rey included was about life on Jakku and instructions for scavenging. Despite this being the main intent, Rey used the guide for other purposes, too. She wrote about her personal life, including events from her past. She also taped and pasted little items she found, from a Bespin postcard to print schematics of ships. The guide even doubled as a sketchbook, as Rey added various drawings to the pages, such as self-portraits, portraits of people she knew, the wildlife, terrain, and ship parts.
Rey took the guide with her when she, Finn, and BB-8 escaped Jakku in the Millennium Falcon, encountering its previous owners Han Solo and Chewbacca, who agreed to take them to Takodana to help get BB-8 to his base. En route, Rey amended the guide, summarizing the events that had taken her off-world.
Rey compiled the guide in a blank book, writing in Galactic Basic Standard with the High Galactic alphabet. She divided the guide into different sections, each with a different subject. She made page headers by writing them on separate pieces of paper and taping them into the guide. She did not include a table of contents or page numbers in the book.
The guide opened with a brief introduction. Rey explained why she was writing the book and the various reasons people would have to be on Jakku and needing this guide.
Rey explained the places on Jakku, including the Goazon Badlands, Old Meru's hut, the Pilgrim's Road, Carbon Ridge, the Sinking Fields, and the Sacred Villages. She wrote explanations of where they were, the dangers they held, and their practical purposes in the scavenging life.
Rey also wrote about Old Meru, the Sitter, and Unkar Plutt's ill-fated venture to Carbon Ridge.
Rey also sketched images of the Goazon Badlands, Old Meru's hut and some of her tattoos, a Teedo portrait, the Sitter on his pillar and the Teedos that brought him food, Carbon Ridge and the Dead-enders that guarded it, the Sinking Fields, a portrait of Bobbajo, and a Sacred Village. She also taped a printed schematic of Hellhound Two and a notice for Jakku she found in the Pilgrim's Road.
Rey wrote this section about the AT-AT she had converted into her home. She also taped a ration packet she had found.
To explain why her guide was no longer on Jakku, Rey wrote a brief account of the events that had happened to her over the course of two days. She had rescued a droid, BB-8, from a Teedo, taking him in for the night. The next day, she brought him to Niima Outpost, where she had to protect him from Unkar's thugs after she refused to sell BB-8 to the junk boss.
- Rey's Survival Guide