Tusheti

Even today... the Tushetian sheep-herders never part with their black felt caps. When I see them, I always recall that at one time they were not merely hats, but helmets—the farmer or shepherd had to be ready to exchange his work clothes for battle gear. The helmet was always at hand—that was the reality. Eduard Shevardnadze, former Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union and President of Georgia 1995-2003 from his autobiography, The Future Belongs to Freedom, 1991.