Our Story
We believe optimism & preparation gets us through the hottest challenges.
RECORD HIGHS
Inspired by the National Parks
Big Bend National Park
Texas · 119°F / 48°C
Congaree National Park
South Carolina · 104°F / 40°C
Zion National Park
Utah · 105°F / 41°C
Joshua Tree National Park
California · 122°F / 50°C
Our story started in a hollowed-out Airstream outside Big Bend National Park, on a long trip to visit all 63 U.S. national parks. After a hot spring day on the Rio Grande and in the Chisos Mountains, one question wouldn't let go: Why is a park this incredible so underrated? The answer was simple: heat. It then led to a bigger question: What does it look like to stay optimistic and adventurous in warmer temps?
Put another way, why was there so much great gear for cold-weather parks like Glacier and Denali, yet hot-weather parks like Death Valley & Big Bend have been treated like an afterthought by gear companies?
Out of that night in Terlingua, Texas came the idea for gear built specifically for rising temperatures. I brought it to one of my best friends, and we set out to design clothing for life above 90°F / 35°C, tested everywhere from Arizona's dry desert to New York City humidity and the arid steppes of Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan.
Our mission is simple: make hot-weather gear that you'll want to wear.
Doug
Co-Founder & CEO
PS: the sketches above are based on the photos I captured during my travels across the 63 National Parks. Their unique environments have shaped the design of every Terlingua Threads garment.
Made in Portugal
Crafted with passion and precision
We choose materials and components that do the job and hold up. Our bespoke Terlingua Coyote™ buttons are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, and our hemp-based fabrics are naturally tough, breathable, and break in beautifully over time.
Our slightly oversized, relaxed fit maintains an air gap that promotes convective airflow and evaporative cooling, so the garment works with the heat instead of trapping it.
Built to last
Made to Defy Planned Obsolescence
Terlingua Threads isn't priced the way it is because of branding. It's priced that way because of how it's built. Every piece is individually handcrafted and inspected in our production studio outside Porto, Portugal. Small batch, careful hands, no race-to-the-bottom production-line pressure.
Planned obsolescence is a profitable model. It keeps people coming back, even when they'd rather not. We're trying to build a different kind of business: one that earns trust, not one that cuts corners and relies on failure.
That's what our pricing reflects: higher-quality materials that cost more, careful construction (especially in the details that are hardest to sew) and small-batch, handcrafted production by people who aren't pressured to rush a garment down the line. The point is fewer replacements and more years of wear.
Gritty. Optimistic. Uncompromisingly cool.
An Ethos of Humility & Optimism
We aren't owned by private equity or a conglomerate. We're a small business that doesn't pretend to have everything figured out. When we learn, we adjust. We care more about getting the product right than polishing the marketing, and we'd rather have fewer returns than more social media clicks.
Our shirts won't change your life or change the world. They're tools, not magic. We'll tell you what they're built to do and what they're not. Our aim is simple: to keep people safe, comfortable, and excited for future adventures, no matter how hot it gets.
Causes We Care About
We don't care much for checking boxes or greenwashing. These three bespoke causes connect directly to what matters to us: the places that inspire our gear, and the kind of creativity & passion we see in great problem-solvers and educators.
US National Park Preservation
1% of net product revenue supports U.S. national park conservation. The parks shaped our worldview and inspire every product name. Helping keep trails open, habitats intact, and access possible is our way of giving back to the places that started Terlingua Threads.
STEM Education in the Sonoran Desert
The teacher-engineer who designed our buttons and Coyote keychains chose to forgo lucrative tech careers to run K-6 STEM curriculum at an under-resourced school. This UCLA-trained Computer Science and Electrical Engineer inspires kids through creative experiments and 3D printing, showing them what's possible. We honor his passion & care by giving 1% of our net sales to fund STEM education for his charter school in El Centro, CA.
Adult Developmental Disabilities Support
Portugal isn't just where our products are made. It's our manufacturing home. Every shirt and pair of pants we create passes through skilled hands just north of Porto. That's why we commit 1% of our net sales to organizations in Portugal that support people with severe autism and mental disabilities, a cause deeply important to our manufacturing partner. By supporting these programs, we affirm that Portugal is more than a stop on a supply chain. It's part of our story, our identity, and our responsibility.
Practical, then sustainable
Less Water, Less Plastic, More Wear
We're not claiming our fabrics will save the planet, but we do think your everyday gear should make practical sense for long, hot seasons and finite resources.
- Less plastic: Our main fabrics are plant-based, not petroleum-based, so they don't shed microplastic fibers every time you wash them. Where we do use mesh, it's made from 100% cotton.
- Smarter land use: Hemp produces more fiber per acre than cotton and helps improve soil structure as it grows; lyocell's eucalyptus source can be grown on non-arable land that doesn't compete with food crops.
The result is gear that performs in real heat while treading a little lighter on the places that make those adventures worth having.
Small batches, quick iteration
Reach Out to Us... No, But Really
We want your honest feedback. We produce in small batches and iterate quickly, so your input helps us become better. Email us to tell us how you're using your gear, what surprised you (good or bad), and what you wish were different next time. If you'd rather talk than type, you can use the link in the footer to book a quick Calendly call with one of the founders.
Your experiences in real heat are what steer the changes we make with each new batch.
