Your cellphone can and will betray you. If you're okay with that then move along, this thread is not for you. I am not a conspiracy buff, nor do I consider myself paranoid. But I am familiar with Amateur Radio (HAM Radio) and have had experience with alternate means of communication in emergency situations.

Said simply, your cellphone whether on or off, whether in-use or sitting in your pocket has a lot to say to the outside world. It can identify you and your movements. In a broad sense, given the massive amounts of people expected in D.C. on the 6th, that flood of information available to those who care will be like drinking from a firehose in real time. The data will be overwhelming but still usable to a degree. And afterwards, there will be time to access and to place bosies depending upon what happens on that day.

In any case, if you're traveling with a group and insist on bringing your cellphone with you for emergency purposes, consider encrypting your data, and password protecting the contents. Consider pulling your SIM card and turning your phone off. Consider a burner phone for the event perhaps. Though, those phones are as vulnerable as your own.

Another option is a hand-held walkie-talkie in the FRS/GMRS Band. You can communicate by push button and not reveal much info. Granted, they're open airways so monitoring communication is possible, but the flood would nake it very difficult to zero in on conversations. You shouldn't be having conversations over open airways that have any real import or value in any case.

FRS/GMRS... so, what do the acronyms stand for?

FRS: Family Radio Service

GMRS: General Mobile Radio Service

FRS/GMRS Band: 462-467 MHz (Mega Hertz frequency range)

FRS - This range is reserved for recreational use for communication via walkie-talkies, which are low-wattage handheld devices. Having several groups in a small area using the same bandwidth can cause crosstalk issues, so there are features built-in to the devices that allow for specific channel selection (set frequencies within the allowable range) and "privacy code" settings agreed upon between communicants.

GMRS - Technically, GMRS radios require FCC licensing, which means that you shell out 60 or 70 bucks for the privilege of being allowed to broadcast with a more powerful signal, GMRS radios use the same 462-467 Mhz frequency range, but have dedicated channels within that range that FRS radios cannot use. FRS do not. And GMRS radios are generally more powerful (more wattage equals stronger signal, equals further reach). And GMRS radios can be modified to boost their power up to 50 watts. So, basically GMRS radios are more powerful (or can be than FRS), and have selected channels inside the FRS/GMRS band that the FRS devices cannot use.

An FRS radio can easily have a range of a mile and while crosstalk can become an issue in a congested area, that can be oovercome with the devices' settings. Communication can be acheived over a mile in a place like Washington D.C. and perhaps up to two miles gives better terrain.

NOTE: Last year I picked up a pair of Midland FRS radios in-a-pinch when I was going out on a hunt in an area that I had not scouted or was even familiar with. A friend in similar circumstances was along. We were supporting another two individuals. So I picked up something that we could all (the other two had FRS radios) communicate on. Cell service was non-existent. Before the weekend was out, in a hilly area thick with granite, those handhelds reached out several miles without a problem. I paid $50 for the pair of handhelds that included 22 dedicated preset channels (for convenience), the charging base, rechargeable battery packs (in a pinch, you can just use 4 “AA” batteries), and earpieces. So, no charger, no problem if you carry spare batteries.