As an outcome of the recent housing downturn the lifestyle of the nearly homeless has become "high style" with rich people and movies stars downsizing in droves, sometimes voluntarily, from multimillion-dollar homes and condos for the latest "Mad Trapper Makeover."
Once the sole privilege of an isolated few in Alaska and the wilds of Northern Minnesota the new chi chi lifestyle is sweeping the nation. Purists say that to be truly "Mad" you have to have been born a "Trapper" and worn the same baseball cap and set of clothes for a decade or more, others are content to simply be poseurs and makeover their domain to cabin chic.
Style experts at Vanity Fair say the essential trapper makeover focuses on what counts most, curb appeal. Popular ways to improve resale value include using pallets as doorsteps, having more than one donut tire on your vehicle, using snowmobile tracks as door mats and installing the sole of a rubber boot as a door hinge.
Long cold winters and short summers are what makes the cabin interior design really shine for the truly Mad Trapper and includes sly cutting edge moves such as hanging a blanket over the door during winter, showcasing a single can of Raid boldly on the kitchen table in the summer, artfully placing your working TV on top of your non-working TV in a constructivist manner and using flyswatters inventively as cheeky wall decorations.
Recent convert and spokesperson Ed McMahon says "You may already have become a Mad Trapper, Ho Ho Ho Ho."
"I have already run over a dog more than once and started wearing hunting clothes at celebrity events, Ho Ho Ho."
True Trappers have a slight knowing air earned by years of self-reliant living alone in the bush without cable and go by nicknames only, sometimes forget their real names.
Clothes shopping is limited to garage sales, recognizing items sold previously at another garage sale and buying them back anyways, demonstrating the ultimate commitment to the truly sustainable Mad Trapper lifestyle.
Ed says proudly that since becoming a Mad Trapper he has cut down on living costs dramatically.
"I got rid of my security system and now eat cereal from old margarine containers."
