Our Story

During his thru hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, Jolly noticed that everyone has to choose between the protection of a sun hoodie or the ventilation of a full button down. After hiking a few days with another hiker named Max, who was wearing his mother’s cotton half button hooded gardening shirt, Jolly knew that it was time to make a new technical sun shirt with no compromise. After finishing the PCT, he went to school for Outdoor Product Design, where he learned how to sew, and for a final his second year in school, he spent 70 hours designing and hand sewing the prototype.

After that prototype, it was time to pick the fabric, and in true thru hiker fashion, we wanted to stand out and be unique. Unlike ordinary sun shirts available in blue, khaki, and grey, we wanted to give the wearer a shirt that offers the same amount of joy as a thrift shop shirt but in a technical 84% polyester/16% spandex blend that dries quickly and is anti-microbial. After all, this shirt will be in every single photo of you along your 2,000+ mile and four-plus month journey.

Since the first prototype, Jolly has made alterations to bring you a sun shirt that is thru hiker tough and ready for every activity where sunscreen would be applied. And to be sure that this shirt is rugged enough, our founder, Jolly, put the shirt to the test hiking 1,650 miles on the Continental Divide Trail in 2021. A fractured foot ended his hike early but three other hikers, Turbo Jesus, Salty, and Mittens, finished the CDT in our Triple Crown Button Down having hiked over 2,600 in the shirt.

And so the Triple Crown Button Down was born. 

Jolly Gear.

Where fun meets functional.