Our Design Philosophy
We value both form & function. When the two collide, we choose heat dissipation over vibes.
We seek to do one thing very well
You've seen the ads. "This is the last shirt you'll ever buy.""This is the only thing you'll ever wear again."
We're designed to do one thing very well - keeping you comfortable & safe in temperatures above 90ºF / 35ºC. We are not designed to be your entire closet, nor do we want to be.
We have deep respect for the gear from many great companies already out there that are built for different functions. We happily use them ourselves.
You'll never see us make a ski jacket
Every decision we make focuses on one question: how do we keep people comfortable & safe in heat?
We're not splitting attention between cold-weather gear and hot-weather gear. Hot weather apparel is not an afterthought for us. All of our development & testing goes towards mastery of understanding heat.
We can promise nobody will have thought about hot weather more deliberately than Terlingua Threads.
We design things with a relaxed fit
A relaxed cut holds a layer of air between cloth and body, and every step pumps that layer through the collar, hem, and cuffs. The effect has a name, the bellows effect, and you feel it as the difference between a shirt that moves air and one that clings. The Tuareg and the Bedouin in North Africa and the Arabian peninsula have understood this for centuries with loose, layered robes built for crossing real deserts.
Sure, tight-fitting garments photographs well, and they can flatter figures. But tight clothing also traps heat, blocks convective cooling, and require a trade-off that we personally weren't willing to make.
Shade the skin
Fabric blocks solar gain that bare skin absorbs.
Keep the air moving
A relaxed cut holds a moving air layer, and movement pumps it fresh.
Room for sweat to leave
Evaporation needs surface and airflow. A shirt stuck to your back has neither.
Miles Tested In Our Gear
Across 6 continents, including two 300-mile ultramarathons across the Mojave and Atacama deserts.
Hottest Temperature Tested
In Mexicali, Mexico. Honorable mentions to Death Valley (118ºF) and the Florida Everglades (98ºF & humid)
Avg. Number of Prototypes
We learn things by wearing each prototype. And we incorporate your feedback for each production batch.
Expert outdoor gear testers
Medical doctors, moms who started hiking groups in the Mid-Atlantic, gear journalists, and everyone in between.
We've learned things on the field and from listening to others
Thumb holes, White Sands
Reinforced stitching where the seam takes the strain, so the hole outlasts the habit.
Button-Up Shirt Ventilation
We mapped where the body traps heat the most, then added ventilating mesh panels on those areas for our men's & women's button-up shirts.
The buttons
Bespoke Terlingua Coyote™ buttons in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. We chose the coyote as our mascot because it represents grit and adaptability in the hottest climates in North America.
The pockets
Deep enough for a phone and keys, on every pants we make. We don't know why this should be considered a luxury limited to men and not women. But again, we're those who prefer function to form.
Be a part of the build
We want to build for you, not build for some hypothetical persona. We started a Discord server so you can tell us what you love, what falls short, and what you wish existed. We want you to see us build this brand in real time, and we want you to be a cherished part of it.
Sizing
Buy your usual size.
The relaxed fit is the design. When in between sizes, size down for a more form-fitting design (at the trade off of less heat release). Our fitting guide is published.
