Our Story
Since 1996 · Made in Chico, California
The Original Sandless Sandbag.
Three Decades of Showing Up.
A family-run company in Northern California has been building the world's first sandless sandbag for nearly thirty years — and shipping it from a small town most people pass through on the way to somewhere else.
1995A military surplus store in Chico, California
Maurice Huffman founded Swiss Link Military Surplus in 1995, sourcing genuine European military gear for outdoor enthusiasts, emergency planners, and ranchers across the American West.
The shop became known for two things: surplus you couldn't find anywhere else, and a willingness to solve the practical problems customers brought through the door.
One of those problems kept coming back: flooding. Customers wanted something that worked like a sandbag without the sand, the shovel, the truck, or the crew. Nothing on the market did the job.
1996StormBag is established
To pursue the flood-protection problem in earnest, Maurice established StormBag as a dedicated brand under the Swiss-Link, Inc. umbrella in 1996 (California Certified Small Business No. SB20022091).
The mandate was simple: build a sandbag that anyone could deploy — fast, alone, without preparation — and make it in America.
Late 1990sBuilding the original sandless sandbag
Through the late 1990s, the team refined a non-toxic crosslinked polyacrylamide polymer that could absorb hundreds of times its weight in fresh water.
By 1999, the design was finished: a one-pound dry pouch that expanded to over thirty pounds in three to five minutes when soaked. The "sandless sandbag" — a category that didn't exist before — was born.
1 lb
Dry weight
33 lbs
Hydrated · 3 minutes
6 in
Stacked barrier per layer
The same StormBag we've been making since the late 1990s — engineered to be the difference between "we should probably do something" and "the water is here."
2011Hurricane Irene and the call that changed everything
For years, StormBag sold steadily — about two hundred bags a week — to a quiet base of municipalities, military buyers, and prepared homeowners.
Then in August 2011, Hurricane Irene barreled up the East Coast. A New York hospital called and ordered five thousand bags to keep its lower floors dry. The Wall Street Journal followed.
10,000
Bags shipped in one week
Word spread that there was a small company in Chico making something that actually worked when the water arrived faster than the sand could.
2018Rebuilding from the Camp Fire
In November 2018, the Camp Fire devastated Paradise, California, just up the ridge from Chico. The fire destroyed homes and warehouse stock that the company and members of the Huffman family had built up over decades.
The team rebuilt — not just inventory, but the conviction that disaster preparedness products matter most to people who never expect the disaster to find them. That experience shaped how we talk to customers today.
2023Shark Tank, ABC Season 15
Maurice's son Miles joined the family business with one mission: get StormBag in front of the homeowners who needed it most.
In October 2023, Maurice and Miles walked into the Shark Tank seeking $200,000 for 10% of the company. They walked out with an offer from Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. Overnight, StormBag sold through every unit on hand.
The Shark Tank appearance brought StormBag to millions of households for the first time. It also brought scrutiny — and the product held up.
Maurice and Miles Huffman on ABC's Shark Tank — Season 15, October 2023.
Trusted Where the Stakes Are Highest
The only sandless sandbag with both FEMA and DHS approval for emergency flood mitigation.
- United States Navy
- Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- National Guard units, nationwide
- City of Houston, Texas
- Los Angeles Unified School District
- Municipality of the County of Kings
- Salt Lake City Bomb Squad
And tens of thousands of homeowners who keep a box in the garage, the closet, or the back of the truck — because they've decided not to be the family scrambling for sand at the hardware store the night before a storm.
What We Believe
Floods don't wait for you to get organized. The single most important factor in protecting a home is how fast you can be ready.
That's why every StormBag still ships at one pound dry. Why we still manufacture in the United States. Why we run our own real-time Flood Watch tool — pulling live alerts from the National Weather Service, free, no signup. And why we'll never sell you something we wouldn't keep in our own garage in Chico.
The Family Behind StormBag
Maurice Huffman
Founder & Owner
Founded Swiss Link Military Surplus in 1995 and established StormBag a year later. A lifelong musician and longtime Northern California resident, he's spent thirty years building practical products for people who can't afford for things to fail.
Miles Huffman
Chief Financial Officer
Joined the family business to scale StormBag beyond its existing wholesale customers, led the Shark Tank pitch alongside his father, and oversees the direct-to-consumer side of the business today.
StormBag at a Glance
- Founded
- Swiss Link 1995 · StormBag 1996 · Sandless design completed 1999
- Headquarters
- 11094 Midway, Chico, CA 95928
- Phone
- (530) 636-9045
- info@stormbag.co
- Parent
- Swiss-Link, Inc. DBA StormBag
- CAGE
- 3HN30
- Certifications
- California Certified Small Business No. SB20022091 · FEMA & DHS Approved
- Manufacturing
- 100% Made in the USA
Be the family that's already ready.
The ten-pack lives in a closet. The peace of mind shows up the night the river crests.