What Happened To StormBags Sandless Sandbags From Shark Tank Season 15?

The second episode of Shark Tank's 15th season — technically shot third but aired second — premiered on ABC on October 6, 2023, to an audience of 3.6 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research's viewership ratings. The first of four pitches aired that week was for StormBag, a sandbag alternative to use to protect your home during severe rainstorms that cause flooding.

Weighing only one pound each, Stormbags were much easier to manage than traditional, always-heavy sandbags, though conventional sandbags have the advantage of being effectively free to acquire most of the time. One of the Sharks bowed out for that reason, but the father/son duo received multiple offers from the rest of the panel. However, it looks like this is one of the many "Shark Tank" deals where the official deal was never completed off-air. 

As best as we can tell, the company's still functional, albeit as a portion of the Huffmans' larger military surplus operation. Let's take a detailed look at how the StormBag story's progressed, first with the Huffmans' "Shark Tank" pitch and then looking beyond to see what's happened since.

Maurice Huffman and his son, Miles, entered Shark Tank seeking $200,000 for 10 percent equity in StormBag, their sandbag alternative for protecting homes from floods during torrential rainstorms. The StormBags each weigh one pound dry and expand when absorbing water. Filled with grains of an absorbent polymer, each bag can absorb 300 times its weight in water per grain. After drying out, they can be used an additional two times. 

Asked about their background, Maurice explained that he wholesales emergency equipment, so it's a natural fit. Miles, after joining the family business, pushed Maurice to market StormBag beyond their existing customers. This all came after they lost their homes and warehouse in the 2018 fire that destroyed much of Paradise, California.

In the fiscal year prior to the show's airing, StormBag did $90,000 in revenue with no marketing, with Miles thinking that the right investment and marketing could lead to significant increases in sales. The bags are made for $2.00 each and sell for as low as $5.50 each, though Miles said they could get the cost down to $1.75 with equipment upgrades. Maurice noted, meanwhile, that there are other applications, like using a hydrated bag to water houseplants while on vacation. Kevin O'Leary opted out because their main competition — traditional sandbags — are free, but Daniel Lubetzky and Daymond John offered $200,000 for 40 percent. Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner countered together at 30 percent, and the Huffmans accepted, even after Daniel and Daymond matched them.

At first glance, it's not immediately clear if the StormBag deal with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner formally closed. (Remember: The "deal" we see made on TV is very preliminary, with an extensive due diligence process required after the episode is shot before a formal deal can be made.) Cuban and Greiner both have pages on their websites laying out their "Shark Tank" investments, but as we learned when we did our "Shark Tank" update article on GroupHug solar panels, Cuban's page seemingly hasn't been updated since very early 2020 at the latest. The status of the "Shark Tank" investments page on Greiner's is harder to pin down, but thankfully, we don't need it. That's because the Huffmans told Action News Now in October 2023 that they walked away from the deal, instead preferring to build up the company on their own. That was as detailed as they got, though.

"We're going to try to follow up and make the best of it," said Maurice in the article.

Meanwhile, Maurice told KRCR-TV shortly after the episode premiered that the "Shark Tank" effect overwhelmed them. "To all and everybody who ordered something and isn't getting it fast, I have to apologize," he said. "We did not expect such a rush of orders but we're trying to catch up." In the Action News Now interview, he got more specific, saying they sold out of their StormBag stock on hand the weekend that the episode premiered. 

It looks like StormBag is still a fully functioning business, with the product still available to order on both the StormBag website, the website of parent company StormTec, and the site for the Huffman's military surplus company, Swiss-Link. You can get a 10-pack of StormBags for $99.99, a 25-pack for $239.99, or, on the StormBag site only, a bulk 250-pack for $2,247.50. The storefronts appear to be fully functioning, and there don't appear to be any issues with ordering StormBags. 

Though the Huffmans walked away from their deal with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner and haven't followed up on most of their ideas suggested during the pitch, like smaller bags for alternate applications, the price has gone up, which was another Cuban suggestion. It's not clear if they have any plans to add additional SKUs beyond "door kits" for use during major floods.

The LinkedIn pages for both Maurice and Miles Huffman list them as still being involved at Swiss-Link in the same roles they had when the episode was shot and when it premiered. Maurice is still listed as "Owner," the same role he's held since the company started in June 1995. Miles is still Chief Financial Officer, a job he alluded to taking during the "Shark Tank" pitch. With StormBag seemingly being a successful add-on to their already viable military surplus business, both Huffmans seem poised to ride that wave for the foreseeable future.