How can I quickly see what level of equipment I have?

Solution 1:

To quickly see what you have, you'll just have to either get better at remembering what you have equipped, be able to quickly check by opening the inventory fast, or just using 3rd person to look at yourself (and know what the equipment looks like, they're pretty distinct).

And no, there's no options to restrict what loot you pick up.

Solution 2:

In the 1.0 release that came out December 20th 2017, there is an option under the "Gameplay" settings for enabling an equipment HUD, as well as an option for enabling a weapon HUD.

When you enable the equipment HUD setting, you will see icons down near your health bar indicating what equipment you have on. Enabling the weapon HUD places weapon icons next to your mini-map. See the below image:

Circled in red, is the equipment you are wearing. In blue, are the weapons you currently have. In this example, my equipment consists of a level 1 backpack, and level 2 helmet, and level 2 vest. The icons will look like their respective piece of equipment when you have them equipped. No icon means you don't have anything equipped there.

As for my weapons, I had an AKM, S12K, the new R45 revolver, and stun grenade.