Travel to DC

[Lawton Marsh]

So my wife and oldest daughter are headed to DC in a few weeks and I was wondering if you guys had any tips to keep them out of trouble? They are smart and somewhat/pretty cautious and will spend most of their time with a few hundred or thousand other cheer leaders but also want to see some of the sites. I cannot go with them since my youngest and I will be at another competition in Kansas City.

Thanks All,
Lawton

[R. Lafayette]

Are they staying in DC or in Arlington?

[Lawton Marsh]

DC

[Lawton Marsh]

I think they are planning to use the subway or rail system to get from the airport to the hotel and maybe from the hotel to the competition location. That whole idea makes me a little uneasy.

[LawDog]

The rail system in DC is not like the rail system in Atlanta. It is filled with businessmen and military officers. It's as safe as anywhere else.

Stick to the touristy areas and you'll likely be okay. Do not venture afield. Keep your head up. Don't be so mesmerized by the monuments that you fail to look at the people around you.

Choose weapons that are innocuous and deniable, like pens and flashlights. There are metal detectors everywhere. The Metropolitan Police will grill you over possession of a 3" folding knife--they are just completely unaccustomed to anything other than unarmed sheep. Even pepper spray will be confiscated going into most facilities.

At the touristy sites, the concerns about terrorism become real. In most of America, you should really be much more worried about the possibility of a crackhead mugger than you would be about a suicide bomber. DC, though, inverts that concern. Profile. Be prepared to walk (or run) away. Have a plan for the complete breakdown of transportation and communication. I'd send them with a small BOK and IFAK. But the most important thing would definitely be having a plan.

[Monte]

No loaded rounds or empty cases. If found it could make for a lot of wasted time.

[H60DoorGunner]

Stick to the Mall, and the museums. It's pretty safe there, except you *might* get your pocket picked, if you're staring at the monuments and not paying attention.

Though I did find occasion to knock a homeless woman out once, the Metro is the safest of all the subways I've ever ridden in the US. Certainly better than the NY subway, or Atlanta's rail system. They shouldn't have anything to worry about if they just stick to the tourist map and watch their pocket books.

[R. Lafayette]

DC during the day is pretty safe. Large numbers of tourists create a sort of protective umbrella. With an exception. When the school system lets out and the wolf packs of teen thugs are going from here to there on the Metro. They have assaulted a number of passengers as of late.

On July 4, 2015 a white man was shanked to death 'in broad daylight' on the Metro on his way to 4th of July events. That was a 1 on 1 event. He resisted giving up his iPhone in a crowded car of people. They all fled to the other side of the car while he was stabbed 20 times.

Snatches of iPhones from those busy texting near the door to the train car are common.

At night the area outside Verizon Center is called Combat Alley. Young thugs travel there to hang out in groups looking for trouble. Also there were the recent evening incidents of veterans being brutally assaulted outside the McDonalds near Ford's Theater. War vet or no war vet, at least one of them rolled with the pumpkin boy look which I personally believe was an exacerbating factor in the process of his selection by street combat vets.

[Dan_Br]

I'd send them with a small BOK and IFAK. But the most important thing would definitely be having a plan.
Acronyms???
What is a BOK or IFAK

thanks
dan

[emtdaddy1980]

Acronyms???
What is a BOK or IFAK

thanks
dan
BLOW OUT KIT and IMPROVED FIRST AID KIT respectively.

[Lawton Marsh]

Thanks for the feedback. I pretty much profile everyone and everywhere but I won't be with them. The wife has not been working out but is one of those individuals who if she says she's going to tun 5 miles she's gonna run 5 miles. My oldest daughter may be able to out run me and I'm no couch potato. They are taking my mother in law who may have to be sacrificed for their safety, and my sanity.

i may get them the brushes with the dagger handles that Gabe sells. All plastic, innocent appearing and a surprise for abad guy.
Personally I will have a FAK and blow out kit and will carry as always in KC cause that place can be crazy too.

thanks everyone

[Dan_Br]

BLOW OUT KIT and IMPROVED FIRST AID KIT respectively.
thanks

[Shooter Ready]

DC is a great place to visit, provided you stay in well traveled areas. Many museums are free and you can get a tour of the Capitol if you plan ahead.

Profiling is your friend. Beware of the aforementioned criminal element. Stay in Northwest DC where the majority of attractions are located. Most of the violent crime in DC is in the other 3 quadrants.

DC is largely gun free zone, so only the criminals have guns. I'm surprised that there hasn't been an event yet.

[R. Lafayette]

I would also advise that you consider staying off the Green Line trains if possible. They go to/from the worst areas of DC and PG county (MD).

When you take the Red Line in from NW DC and need to switch trains to get to L'Enfant Plaza, do so at the Metro Center stop and take either a Blue Line or an Orange Line train.

When you take the Red Line in from NW DC and need to switch trains to get to the Archives stop (which is sort of smack in the middle of the Mall), you will have to do so at either Gallery Place or L'Enfant Plaza. From there you will have to take either a Yellow Line or a Green Line train one stop. Just bear in mind that on a Green Line train you are more likely to encounter the 'after school thugs.'

Ridership is down overall on the Metro especially on weekends and at night because people feel safer taking Uber or a taxi.

[CaptBeach]

What was said about the Green Line is true...avoid it...also avoid DC at night...do ALL the sight seeing and touristy stuff in the light of day...after 5pm the citys demographic does a somersault from 95% white to 95% Norwegian when the federal workers leave to go home...expect to get scammed, if someone is not with her group, be polite but shun them...

Assuming she is flying in and not driving...

In today's world of terror and cataclysmic events have a plan B for her to get home or get to a friendly home until things resolve back to "normal" Quite a few WT people in or near that AO...I live in Va Beach. 3-4 hours away by car....one back up plan we always fall back on is to exfil the city...safest way to do that that I know of is Blue Line metro to Franconia-Springfeild, this gets them out of DC into a somewhat white(r) environment, from there they can take a taxi to a hotel...OR Plan C is immediately go to Union Station and take a VRE train out to Fredericksburg (50-60 miles out and very safe) Plan C.1 is still Union Station but take the first Amtrac out, worry about getting home after your out...

[Little Bill]

DC during the day is pretty safe. Large numbers of tourists create a sort of protective umbrella. With an exception. When the school system lets out and the wolf packs of teen thugs are going from here to there on the Metro. They have assaulted a number of passengers as of late.

On July 4, 2015 a white man was shanked to death 'in broad daylight' on the Metro on his way to 4th of July events. That was a 1 on 1 event. He resisted giving up his iPhone in a crowded car of people. They all fled to the other side of the car while he was stabbed 20 times.

Snatches of iPhones from those busy texting near the door to the train car are common.

At night the area outside Verizon Center is called Combat Alley. Young thugs travel there to hang out in groups looking for trouble. Also there were the recent evening incidents of veterans being brutally assaulted outside the McDonalds near Ford's Theater. War vet or no war vet, at least one of them rolled with the pumpkin boy look which I personally believe was an exacerbating factor in the process of his selection by street combat vets.
Another attack a week later; "the fourth known attack of its kind since December": http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/73022524-story

All done by "groups of teenagers". Black Lives Matter!

[Little Bill]

The rail system in DC is not like the rail system in Atlanta.
It is filled with businessmen and military officers. It's as safe as anywhere else.

Stick to the touristy areas and you'll likely be okay. Do not venture afield. Keep your head up. Don't be so mesmerized by the monuments that you fail to look at the people around you.

Choose weapons that are innocuous and deniable, like pens and flashlights. There are metal detectors everywhere. The Metropolitan Police will grill you over possession of a 3" folding knife--they are just completely unaccustomed to anything other than unarmed sheep. Even pepper spray will be confiscated going into most facilities.

At the touristy sites, the concerns about terrorism become real. In most of America, you should really be much more worried about the possibility of a crackhead mugger than you would be about a suicide bomber. DC, though, inverts that concern. Profile. Be prepared to walk (or run) away. Have a plan for the complete breakdown of transportation and communication. I'd send them with a small BOK and IFAK. But the most important thing would definitely be having a plan.
Good advice, but unfortunately it's no longer the case that the DC Metro is as safe as anywhere. As other posters have pointed out, that all depends.

Recently there have been a spate of attacks in DC on white people that appear to have been racially motivated and not dependant on what the victims did or didn't do. They were attacked solely because of their skin color. By... you know... "teens" and "youths"...

[Huntindoc]

Last summer I only found metal detectors at the national archives and Air and space museum. I carried a knife everywhere and at those locations I put it in my camera bag. It has a velcro bottom to adjust depth for different lenses. It went under that and was never discovered. Also carried my titanium chopsticks in my bag. Never got even a glance. The tube was fine for us but my head is always on a swivel, x20 when I am not carrying a gun.

[Little Bill]

Last summer I only found metal detectors at the national archives and Air and space museum. I carried a knife everywhere and at those locations I put it in my camera bag. It has a velcro bottom to adjust depth for different lenses. It went under that and was never discovered. Also carried my titanium chopsticks in my bag. Never got even a glance. The tube was fine for us but my head is always on a swivel, x20 when I am not carrying a gun.
Good to know...

[docholliday13]

Would you fly with a choirboy to DC Or would it not be worth hassle. You know, poor quality beer and all.

[Walk-Softly]

Good points. If you have not briefed the wife on it, discuss the jackass attack on the Holocaust Museum as a situation the girls should be aware of... Local security guards carrying handguns are referred to as "special police" and they do not engender confidence. I would be very worried about a crossfire/ loose rounds situation.

Chinatown/Version center area is nowhere to be after dark.

i personally always stay two blocks or so from the White House when in town roughly monthly. It seems relatively safe and I have a feel for the neighborhood. As a measuring stick, that is $400 a night hotel territory. I have stayed up in the "up and coming" NoMa neighborhood at $250 - the grocery store next door to the hotel had someone stabbed to death in the entry way. In other words, DC is a crap hole.

i would also counsel extreme care in carrying obvious weapons while in DC such as plastic knives. A lot of the security guards are just warm bodies, but there are also some well put together federal agencies doing post searches. I have had a few Secret Service run ins that were seriously competent situations. Detectable weapons are frankly dumb at the Capitol, White House and a few of the executive agencies.

[DopeForWind]

I've carried all kinds of weapons into the air and space museum without a problem. I even wore my steel toed boots and didn't set off the detector. Note though that some security is tight, so I would run airline type weapons that are 100% deniable OR do the camera bag trick.