It would be only natural to want the best protection available. If the most protective suit was a Duty SEVA nobody would be interested in joining any other faction.
The Bandits would have real problems: "So, what kind of protective suit do I get if I join you?" - "Well, we'll give you this leather raincoat. Doesn't help much with bullets, anomolies or mutant attacks, but it keeps you fairly dry."
The tunnel under the road in Cordon would get pretty crowded - safest place in the Zone according to that soldier who hangs out there in CS: I used a freeplay mod and finished the game, returned to Cordon and he was still alive, well and completely unbothered by anything. He'd been there for 17 days and not one shot fired at him nor any mutant attacks.
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