Picked the right time!

[thesphere]

Looks like I picked the perfect time to come back, as I really want to play a paladin. I mained a Shammy back in 2001, and I always had tank envy. I finally got the game up and running last night, made a dwarf paly, and hoofed it to Freeport. By the time I had to log for the night, I was still looking for a bind.

Imagine my surprise when I hop on the forums this morning at work and see that the hybrid exp penalty was lifted! It's a sign, I swear.

Anyway, my questions...

Is it possible to start off a paly with 0 gear/money and level them by tanking in groups? If not, is there some easy to get starting tank gear I should know about? From what I remember, people wouldn't want a tank wearing cloth from orc pawns...

Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!