Well, one of the big advantages to the witcher gear is that it's upgradeable to better versions, so it has some staying power. You might swap it out for something better, but then you might come back and use it again six or ten levels later. Of course, who's going to carry it around all that time? A stash of some sort would be a nice addition to this game.

I've seen some level 34 or so swords that had a little more damage but the other stats didn't compare to witcher swords. What swords are you referring to? As for armors I haven't seen anything that was better when you add in slots, skills and armor.