As Sarah said, a number of factions have the unspoken benefit of being there to back their members. While the Transcendent Order of course looks after its own, we cannot afford to extend significant assistance to what should be a personal quest for enlightenment. That is not to say that our members may expect no help from our organization, but merely that other factions more regularly do so for their members.
Factions with powerful agendas and a sense of unity tend to be ready to equip their members when necessary (and still with a cost, except on explicit faction business). So Hardheads, Sinkers, Mercykillers, Anarchists, and even Dustmen and Athar could probably obtain gear from their faction headquarters, hole up somewhere if they needed a place to stay, find work there, and recieve aid. No feat required.
Never forget - the "not a faction" faction - has an intellegence network... that's one way of tossing little hooks and hints out.