How to Make More Chalk in Cairn

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Cairn is a tough climbing game where you’ll need to manage your resources to survive. Chalk is a key resource, helping your character, Aava, grip the rock as she climbs Mount Kami. Since Chalk is limited and hard to find on the mountain, you’ll need to conserve what you have and learn to craft more. This guide will teach you how to make Chalk in Cairn and offer tips on when to use it most effectively.

What Does Chalk Do In Cairn & How To Use It?

While it may be obvious that Chalk increases grip in Cairn, how exactly does it work?

You can use chalk whenever you like, even while climbing. Just press and hold the right direction on the D-Pad. Aava will rub her hands together, and chalk will fall off, giving you a better grip.

Extra Grip

You should now see “Extra Grip: 12” in the top left corner. This number shows how many times Aava can use her hands before running out of chalk. Each time she places a hand, the number will decrease – for instance, from 12 to 11. Placing her feet doesn’t affect the chalk level, as it only applies to her hands.

These improved handholds allow the climber to grip even smooth surfaces that would normally be impossible. Chalk is most effective on sections of a climb that lack good holds or features to grab onto.

You can use the extra grips whenever you need them. Feel free to rest between sections of a climb – Aava will still have chalk on her hands for when you’re ready to continue.

If there’s another way to go, that’s always preferable to using Chalk. However, as the game becomes more challenging, players will sometimes need to rely on Chalk to get past certain climbs.

How To Make More Chalk In Cairn

Aava’s Climbot is more than just a tool for retrieving climbing gear and keeping her company. It can actually create chalk, using materials like plants or plastic waste that Aava finds or produces as byproducts of eating.

To begin, players need to open their backpack. This can only be done when they are safely on the ground or not currently climbing (meaning they’re not attached to a rope). If Aava is in the middle of a climb, you won’t be able to access the items inside the backpack.

  • To open the backpack, hold down on the D-Pad.
  • Use the Left Stick to navigate between items.
  • Hovering over one of these, you can hold Y or Triangle to compost it.
  • On the left of the menu, your Climbot will begin composting, starting a timer of 12 hours.
  • When this time has passed, hover over the Climbot in this menu to collect Chalk with A or Cross.
  • You must have an empty slot in your Chalk Bag to do so, but this step can be done while climbing.

You can compost more items to lower the timer by 15 minutes. However, more chalk won’t be made.

If you need to wait, you can rest on the ground by holding down the LT/L2 button and pressing down on the D-pad. You can also pass time and compost at your Bivouac – that’s your sleeping tent.

What Items Should You Compost In Cairn?

You can technically make chalk out of almost anything, but it’s best to save valuable items. Plastic wrappers are ideal because they’re useless for anything else and it’s good to avoid littering. The game even suggests composting them in their item description.

You can easily get plastic wrappers by eating something packaged in them, like a chocolate bar. You might also find them thrown away on the ground. Don’t forget that other trash, such as tin cans, is great for composting. And if you’re trying to make chalk quickly and need more materials, plants and mushrooms can also be used.

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2026-01-30 19:34