Funny thing, everyone suggests VoP for monks because they don't rely on weapons or armor, but the truth of it is, monks are actually MORE gear dependant than any other class. They don't have reliable sources of bonus damage like 2:1 PA, so they need gear that grants increased UAS damage, or extra Str to make up for their MAD, or other misc items to keep up. They can't wear armor, so they need to come up with that bonus somewhere. This generally takes the form of Bracers of Armor, but thats the same slot where damage boosts like Armbands of Might go. They need +wisdom, +con, +enhancement to hit, and +natural armor all from the same neck slot. How is that fair? They need items to cover the things that spells normally cover.

Without gear, monks are even more crippled than normal. Without the MIC rules for combining base items, they have to make terrible choices between defense, offense, and utility, where most other classes, its not as dramatic of a choice. The most limited class is the one that is most penalized by the itemization in the DMG, and the most penalized in a low magic setting. Its like kicking a class thats already rolling around on the floor in pain.