The survival guide of Rey was a manual for survival penned by Rey, a scavenger, during her time on the planet Jakku. This occurred approximately thirty years following the Battle of Endor. Within its pages, the guide provided detailed information about Jakku's regions, its inhabitants, and Rey's personal journey, from her initial years to her eventual escape from that world.
Rey initiated the creation of her survival guide at some time preceding her encounter with BB-8. It served both as a recreational activity and as a valuable resource for fellow scavengers who might find themselves stranded and disoriented on Jakku. Consequently, the majority of the guide's content focused on the intricacies of life on Jakku, with an emphasis on scavenging techniques. However, Rey also utilized the guide for additional purposes. She documented aspects of her personal life, including past experiences. Furthermore, she incorporated found items, such as a Bespin postcard and ship schematics. The guide even functioned as a sketchbook, featuring various drawings by Rey, including self-portraits, depictions of acquaintances, wildlife, landscapes, and components of ships.
When Rey, Finn, and BB-8 escaped Jakku aboard the Millennium Falcon, she carried the guide with her. They encountered the ship's former owners, Han Solo and Chewbacca, who consented to transport them to Takodana to facilitate BB-8's delivery to his base. During their journey, Rey updated the guide, summarizing the events that led to her departure from Jakku.
Rey assembled the guide within the pages of a blank book, writing in Galactic Basic Standard utilizing the High Galactic alphabet. She organized the guide into distinct sections, each dedicated to a specific topic. She created page headers by writing them on separate pieces of paper and attaching them to the guide. The book lacked a table of contents and page numbers.
The guide commenced with a concise introduction. Rey elucidated her motivation for writing the book and the potential reasons individuals might find themselves on Jakku in need of its guidance.
Rey provided explanations of various locations on Jakku, including the Goazon Badlands, Old Meru's hut, the Pilgrim's Road, Carbon Ridge, the Sinking Fields, and the Sacred Villages. She included details regarding their locations, associated hazards, and practical applications in the context of scavenging.
Rey also documented information about Old Meru, the Sitter, and the unfortunate expedition to Carbon Ridge undertaken by Unkar Plutt.
Furthermore, Rey included sketches of the Goazon Badlands, Old Meru's hut, some of her tattoos, a portrait of a Teedo, the Sitter positioned on his pillar, the Teedos responsible for delivering food to him, Carbon Ridge and its Dead-enders guardians, the Sinking Fields, a portrait of Bobbajo, and a Sacred Village. Additionally, she affixed a printed schematic of Hellhound Two and a Travel Advisory notice for Jakku that she discovered along the Pilgrim's Road.
In this section, Rey described the AT-AT that she had transformed into her dwelling. She also attached a ration packet that she had come across.
To clarify the guide's absence from Jakku, Rey composed a brief narrative of the events that transpired over a span of two days. She had rescued a droid, BB-8, from a Teedo, providing him shelter for the night. The following day, she escorted him to Niima Outpost, where she was compelled to defend him against Unkar's thugs after declining to sell BB-8 to the junk boss.