So basically you want to remove some armor that some people find visually unappealing and that is perhaps slightly low quality, yet you add in GARBAGE like the deli cap and keep black plate and studded leather? I mean... seriously?
I used the strange armor when I first started, it helped me get into the mod. I though "Ok, cool, I can wear something totally different than native here, I'll give it a try." In the mean time i never use it, but I think a lot of new players have the same thought process when they first start playing. It's a good armor set to get new players to try the mod out while they grind through the phase of having a 0:75 kd.
Let's face it, this mod is not fun in the slightest because of gameplay for newer players. For a more experienced player the gameplay by itself is enough to keep them playing, but for a newbie who might get 1-2 kills in their first day or two it can be really frustrating. Letting them have something really and truly DIFFERENT from native to work towards gives them a goal and can help keep them playing.
Honestly I don't get the people saying strange armor is what pulls them out of their immersion when you have people running around naked, wearing bridal dresses, or running through the battlefield with a torch held up, doing no fighting. The strange armor set is a bit weird in a primarily European/Middle Eastern setting, but by no means is it the most abnormal thing you see in any round.
If you really NEED to get rid of something, why not start by taking out black plate (which really is crap quality) and that god damn deli cap? (I really hate that thing, even if I am being a bit hypocritical.)