[Stormcrow]

Back in the days of D&D, we all had the standard list of equipment in the rule book, but we understood that it wasn't a complete list, that we could buy other things, and that the GM would judge their availability, cost, and quality.

With this in mind, it should be fair to present players with a list of preapproved equipment that the GM thinks is likely to be asked for, with the understanding that anything beyond the list is up to the GM as to availability, cost, and quality. The difference in GURPS is that it offers you a bunch of nice books with extensive equipment options. The GM should say, "In addition to the list I've given you, you can acquire stuff listed in these books, but anything you take from there must be approved by me, and I may impose some alterations." There is no rules abuse if you subject every choice to the GM's approval.

The list of preapproved equipment should stick to only the most obvious stuff. To add stuff that the players aren't sure to want is to do lots of extra work that you don't need to do.

You can help guide players to the right choices with parameters. Specify the maximum TL of the equipment they can choose. List the lowest LC at which they can buy equipment, and demand appropriate backgrounds for anything lower (Military Rank, Rank in the thieves' guild, a Patron who can get you these things, Unusual Background in which you come from a world where the item is more freely available, whatever). Specify the technology path or paths (Ultra-Tech, pp. 8-11) the world has taken, and disallow any technologies that fall outside the path(s). Doing all this will nicely narrow down the players' choices, meaning you can probably approve most of their choices.