After a rot death or three you just learn these things. Most of the stuff I carry I can get by rank 2, none limited, and all light enough to keep in a container without much concern. Only things that I need to be higher for are things like rose rings and the cloak of endurance.

Padded vest +2
Get a purple cloak + 2
Pair of mithril pendants in the graveyard are +2 each.
Buy a belt at bramblefield for lighter armor.
Right there I am +10 at maybe level 2. Not saying its not annoying to remember to put stuff on while ranking, but it's not that big a deal either. If you know you're going out solely to rank, just keep con maxed. The few points of dam roll and such you may lose are not so big a deal when fighting mobs.

By mid ranks I'll have gear that has + con that I'll wear for other reasons, so it's not so much ever a problem. Yes, if you want to spend 200 hours making it to hero, pk'ing all the while, you might need to put effort into maxing con when you do rank, but otherwise I've never had a problem.

And the gear is actually not useless. At hero, I always carry around a rot prevention kit. Especially if I know there are hero shamans, which there are at least two I know of currently.