[New Player] Gear Fear vs Having Nothing Left

Good morning! Got the game a few days ago, didn’t even realize there’d be a Steam 1.0 release soon, but I’m trying to figure out how to start.

I plan on doing PvE at first, just while I learn the maps and mechanics, but I’m not used to shooters that are quite this lethal. I know about gear fear and how it can create loss cycles, but I’m also not sure about how the game loop works if you don’t have much gear to begin with. Is it possible to effectively all of your useful starting kit, and then have actually nothing useful? Are there passive resource loops to make up for the fact that my first few runs will likely be either lost or not-profitable?

I suppose I’m just worried about bricking my game experience and not having the skill set to crawl back to an enjoyable loop.