Good points. I also love the idea of suiting up in your best catching gear. Reminds me of putting on magic find gear in Diablo 2. You could push yourself to see how many raw stats you could give up in exchange for the chance to find better stuff.
Makes even more sense in this game. Capture gear for capturing and then training gear to fight against the toughest opponents for best leveling.
Unless another player catches you in your luck gear when capturing/finding mats and challenges you to a duel you may not be able to refuse. ;)