StormBag Press Kit

StormBag Press & Media Kit

StormBag is the original sandless sandbag — a Department of Homeland Security-approved, FEMA-tested flood-protection product manufactured in Chico, California, and featured on ABC's Shark Tank Season 15. This page is the canonical press resource for journalists, producers, and emergency-management staff. Founders are available for same-day comment during active flood, hurricane, or storm-surge events.

Press contact

Miles Huffman
General Manager & CFO, Swiss-Link, Inc. (DBA StormBag)
Email: miles@swisslink.com
Phone: (530) 636-9045 ext. 1
Address: 11094 Midway, Chico, CA 95928
Web: stormbag.co

Available for same-day interviews and B-roll during active flood, hurricane, and severe-weather events.

Boilerplate (please copy verbatim)

StormBag is a sandless flood-protection bag manufactured in Chico, California by Swiss-Link, Inc. Each bag weighs about one pound dry and absorbs roughly 33 pounds of fresh water in three to five minutes, expanding into a flood barrier that homeowners, businesses, and emergency-management agencies can deploy without sand, shovels, or heavy equipment. StormBag has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security, evaluated in a FEMA-published U.S. Fire Administration sandbag program study, and tested by the Salt Lake City Bomb Squad and National Guard. The product was featured on ABC's Shark Tank Season 15, Episode 2 in October 2023, where founders Maurice and Miles Huffman secured an on-air offer from Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. StormBag is a California Certified Small Business and is sold direct to consumers, municipalities, and federal agencies through GSA Schedules, CMAS, and BPAs.

Fast facts

Founded: 1996 (Swiss-Link, Inc.)
Headquarters: Chico, California, USA
Founders: Maurice Huffman (CEO), Miles Huffman (CFO & General Manager)
Product: The original sandless sandbag — 1 lb dry, ~33 lb hydrated, 3–5 minute activation time
Manufactured in: The United States of America
Approvals & testing: Department of Homeland Security approved, FEMA-evaluated, Salt Lake City Bomb Squad & National Guard tested
Trusted by: U.S. Navy, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, City of Houston, Los Angeles Unified School District, Municipality of the County of Kings, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Certifications: California Certified Small Business (No. SB20022091), CAGE Code 3HN30, GSA / CMAS / BPA-eligible
National TV: ABC's Shark Tank, Season 15 Episode 2 (October 6, 2023)
UPC codes: SKU SB010 (10-pack) 856460005631, SKU SB025 (25-pack) 856460005648

Credentials and third-party validation

StormBag has been independently evaluated by federal and state agencies. Verified, citable references:

FEMA-published U.S. Fire Administration sandbag program study — documents sandless sandbag performance against traditional sandbag walls.
FEMA & DHS Approval — StormBag — full approval and testing history with documentation.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Fight Handbook (2022) — anchored-poly barrier method that StormBag door kits implement.
NOAA Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database — the underlying market context for sandless flood protection.

How the product works

Each StormBag is a woven bag containing a measured charge of crosslinked polyacrylamide. Submerged in fresh water, the polymer absorbs water and forms a dense hydrogel inside the bag. A dry bag weighs about one pound. A hydrated bag weighs roughly 33 pounds and holds its shape against moving water. Bags are stacked in an overlapping pyramid against a doorway or low wall, anchored with two-mil polyethylene sheeting per the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers method.

Salt water note: StormBag cannot be hydrated in salt water, but will work to repel salt water once they are hydrated with fresh water. Coastal homeowners preparing for storm surge should hydrate with fresh water before the surge arrives.

For deeper technical detail see How StormBag Works, and for video coverage see our deployment video page.

Founder story: Paradise, California

Maurice Huffman has run Swiss-Link, Inc. — the parent company of StormBag — out of Chico, California for nearly three decades. StormBag started inside that business as a niche product sold primarily to government and emergency-management buyers. In November 2018, the Camp Fire destroyed nearby Paradise, California in a matter of hours. The Huffman family lost homes. Their employees lost homes. The community Maurice had spent his career in was gone. His son Miles came home to help rebuild — and to help turn StormBag from a quiet government supplier into a consumer brand that could put flood protection in any homeowner's garage. That decision is the reason StormBag's national pitch on Shark Tank in 2023 was as much about a community as it was about a product.

Recent and notable coverage

StormBag on Shark Tank — the full episode story (Season 15, Episode 2, October 6, 2023).
KRCR News: Chico inventors' StormBag takes off after Shark Tank and viral TikTok.
Action News Now: Chico company's Shark Tank product is helping people prepare for storms.
Daniel Lubetzky (KIND Snacks founder, Shark Tank guest Shark) on Facebook, September 2025: "We lost the StormBag deal after a tough negotiation, but Lori and Mark closed it. Now @stormbag.co is one of the most innovative businesses out there."

Brand assets (downloads)

The following assets are cleared for editorial use without prior permission. Please use the official wordmark in its supplied form and do not alter colors or proportions.

StormBag wordmark logo (PDF, vector) — for print and digital reproduction.
StormBag Capabilities Statement (PDF) — federal-buyer one-pager with credentials, CAGE code, UPC codes, and certifications.
Shark Tank pitch photo (JPG) — Maurice and Miles Huffman on the ABC Shark Tank set, October 2023.
StormBag Single-Door Kit product page — for product photography of the kit lineup.

For high-resolution video, B-roll, additional photography, or custom-cut interview clips, email miles@swisslink.com with deadline and outlet details — we routinely turn requests around within an hour during active weather events.

Product line at a glance

StormBag sells four engineered door kits and three loose-bag tiers direct from stormbag.co:

Single-Door Kit — 5 bags + 6'×10' poly sheet, $69.99
Double-Door Kit — 10 bags + 10'×10' poly sheet, $109.99
Single-Wide Garage Kit — 15 bags + 14'×12' poly sheet, $149.99
Double-Wide Garage Kit — 25 bags + 22'×12' poly sheet, $239.99
Loose 10-pack, 25-pack, and 250-bag bulk — for non-standard openings and bulk orders.