About the Brand
About
Terlingua Threads makes adventure apparel for the heat (think Patagonia or Arc'teryx, but built specifically for 90ºF / 30ºC and above). We use natural hemp fibers to construct men's & women's sun shirts, button-ups, and pants. Our gear features UV protection that is structural, woven into the fiber rather than sprayed on as a finish like with synthetics, which fades after a dozen washes. The cooling is evaporative, designed around how a body actually sheds heat in dry air. There are no synthetic fabrics in anything we make.
We are built to do one thing very well: keep people comfortable and safe in temperatures above 90ºF / 30ºC. We are not trying to be your entire closet, and we hold deep respect for the brands built for different conditions. You will never see us make a ski jacket.
Our gear is made in small batches at a woman-owned factory in Porto, Portugal, by fair-wage craftspeople who aren't rushed. We are an intentionally self-funded small business, which keeps us accountable to the people who wear our gear rather than to investors. We build gear to last, so you come back because you want to. 3% of our net revenues goes towards US & Australian national park preservation, K-6 STEM education in low-income desert communities, and adult mental disability support in Portugal.
Founding Story
The idea for Terlingua Threads came to me on my way to visiting all 63 national parks, on a solo trip to Big Bend in southwest Texas. After a day kayaking the Rio Grande and hiking the Chisos, I went back to my Airbnb, a hollowed-out Airstream with no electricity, wifi, cell service, or plumbing. I read a little, played some chess, and then just listened to the thunderstorms roll in and thought. Why was such a wonderful place so underrated? Because it was hot, 95º in April, and only getting warmer. So I started asking what it takes to stay adventurous in the heat.
For every park I had been to, there were great brands for the cold places: North Face, Cotopaxi, Fjällräven, Patagonia, Arc'teryx. They spent decades perfecting cold, building beautifully for Denali, for Glacier, for the alpine and the wet and the freezing. Nobody had done the same for the other extreme, for Death Valley, for Joshua Tree, for Big Bend. The hot parks had been left to improvise with hand-me-downs from the mountains - except in the heat, those polyester sun shirts were atrociously sticky in the heat, trapped sweat, and smelled no matter how much deodorant I wore. I brought the problem to one of my best friends from my MBA program, and we spent the next two and a half years reverse-engineering the most heat-dissipating adventure clothes we could build.
Our gear has been through 3,000 miles of testing with medical doctors, outdoor guides, and gear experts, including two 300-mile ultramarathons across the Mojave and the Atacama (the runners won in our gear, by the way). We launched publicly two months ago. Six weeks in, CNN named us editor's choice for best outdoor gear of summer 2026, and we are still the smallest name on that list. We're organized, gritty, optimistic, and pursuing this with the confidence that the most exciting days are still ahead of us.
At a Glance
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Heat-first, and only heat
Terlingua Threads designs for one band of conditions: 90°F+ (about 32°C), full sun, dry or humid. Every fabric, seam, vent, and panel is engineered backward from how the body sheds heat, with input from physicians and outdoor guides, and the company has committed publicly to never making cold-weather gear.
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Two purpose-built fabric platforms
Everything is cut from one of our two "Thermal Discipline" fabrics: a 100% woven hemp for button-ups, pants, and shorts, and a hemp/Tencel lyocell jersey knit for henleys and tees. Both are spec'd for maximum breathability, moisture behavior at the skin, and wash-to-wash stability, and both carry hemp's innate anti-odor and anti-microbial properties, so no chemical freshness finish is used.
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UV protection in the fiber, not on it
Sun coverage is structural to the dense hemp weave rather than a sprayed-on finish that fades with laundering. Woven pieces reference UPF 40+ on the hang tags based on the mill's lab guidance, and the brand is upfront that UPF is a lab indicator affected by weight, color, stretch, and wear, not a permanent guarantee.
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Physics-Driven Cooling.
Hemp and hemp-lyocell are hydrophilic, so they keep a thin moisture layer engaged with airflow and convert more sweat into cooling, where hydrophobic polyester can move sweat yet stall it in humid air. We modeled an estimate of effective evaporative heat loss in watts per square meter across humidity levels, and is explicit that it is a physics-based directional estimate rather than a lab measurement
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VentMap™ ventilation
Concealed polyester-free mesh exhaust panels sit at the shoulder yokes and underarms, and along the sides on men's shirts, creating a chimney effect that pulls heat off the body. Worked with both outdoor guides and medical doctors so that the placement was mapped to target the body's hottest zones.
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Crafted in Small Batches in Porto, Portugal
Garments are cut, sewn, and inspected in a small, family-run studio outside Porto, Portugal, on a made-to-order model with a roughly 16-week lead time that avoids overproduction and deadstock. The makers earn fair wages and are not pushed to rush the line.
Signature Products
Tap a product to view details and request a sample.
Men's "Canyonlands" Long Sleeve Hemp Shirt
Terlingua Threads
Men's "Everglades" Ventilated Short Sleeve Hemp Shirt
Terlingua Threads
Men's "Joshua Tree" Long Trail Pants
Terlingua Threads
Men's "White Sands" Sun Henley with Hideaway Hood™
Terlingua Threads
Women's "Canyonlands" Long Sleeve Hemp Shirt
Terlingua Threads
Women's "Everglades" Ventilated Short Sleeve Hemp Shirt
Terlingua Threads
Women's "Joshua Tree" Long Trail Pants
Terlingua Threads
Women's "White Sands" Sun Henley with Hideaway Hood™
Terlingua Threads
Team & Experts
Tap a name to read the full bio.
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Doug Waters is the co-founder and CEO of Terlingua Threads, an hot-weather adventure apparel company building gear for temperatures above 90ºF / 30ºC. He earned his undergraduate degree at UCLA and an MBA from the Wharton School, and spent the early part of his career in management consulting in the overlap of organizational psychology and emerging technology, before turning to the problem that became Terlingua Threads. He has adventured across all 7 continents and in all 63 US national parks, which is where the idea for the company started and where much of the product testing still happens.
Doug has built the company from the ground up, personally leading product development, supply chain, go-to-market expansion, and retailer development and relationships. That hands-on work has given him expert-level command of two subjects: the US national park system, and the materials, features, and construction that make outdoor apparel perform in extreme heat. Six weeks after the brand's public launch, CNN named a portion of their collection Editor's Choice for best outdoor gear of summer 2026. He splits his time between New York City and Southern California.
Outside of Terlingua Threads, Doug is currently writing a book about the 63 national parks and a takeaway from each. He is also a classically-trained pianist, is a triathlete and marathon runner, and is active within his church in New York City. He is a dual citizen of the United States and the European Union (Ireland).
Press Coverage
CNN
Jun 5, 2026
The 51 best products we tried in May, from cooling beauty essentials to lightweight summer clothing
Asset Library
Editorial-ready assets. All images cleared for press use with credit.
