Culture: Because pitching tents seems to be the equivalent of creating temporary shelters, these “tents” may have been lean-to or booths, like the temporary structures erected at the time of Benjamin’s sermon. (See commentary accompanying Mosiah 2:6 for more information on tents.) The fact that they selected a hill suggests that they chose high ground for better range of vision and better potential defense. Although they do not mention military preparations, it seems reasonable that they would have exercised caution when entering the land of the Lamanites.