Oh, I think I know what bug you are talking about, if I'm right it's not the first weapon/armor on database that the player is receiving, it's the initial equipment from other actors, you may start the game with actor 1 but you'll receive the initial equips from actor 2, 3 and so on.
To solve that, open YEP Item core with a text editor, look for this code:
and turn it into a comment, like this:
JavaScript:
//this.initActorEquips();
About turning your shield into a skill, that would be more complicated, you'd need to change more code into the plugin...
I don't know if you know this, but if you download Jeremy Perkins' demo you'll get access to build 1158, also if you are having problems with bugs I made a mod for Alpha ABS to fix some bugs on older and recent builds, take a look:
AABS_FixPack.
To find Jeremy Perkins' demo just search "Alpha ABS demo by Jeremy Perkins" and you'll find it. By the way, I don't think that getting access to the latest build is that expensive, you don't need to be rich to afford it for a month.