long story short, yes, without equip you will die easily.
Id personally spend my first money on eddga shoes, or deviling garments, since they help the survivability quite a lot, once you have those, id work on tthe DBSS, and then the spring rabbits. You could also ask a friend, or guildy, if you could borrow some standard nif gears, to make money with, incase you have wealthy friends.