Somewhat disagree with the expense. Initially it's the same gear list: 5/55 rings, banded and/or the cheaper pieces of kunark class plate set, and a 200pp weapon.
That will last you quite a while. A paladin doesn't really need anything else to improve its tanking, just quality of life gear (clicky daring helm) and a better dps weapon if you want to feel slightly less gimped.
A warrior starts off as a pretty shitty tank in the same gear, but, and this is important, nobody expects you to be any better than that. If they're dumb enough to bring you instead of a knight, they'll appreciate you for not bringing a hybrid exp penalty. So is it that expensive to get to respectable hate output as a warrior? You'll want some worn haste, but that'll only increase your white damage threat not your proc threat. Your proc threat can actually come really cheap, at least if this is accurate:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwL...FEendhdWs/edit
2x scorpikis claw impaler (or skean offhand) and some basic dex gear isn't very expensive by the time you're expected to do decent threat. And by the time expectations begin to rise, you should have access to planar gear.