The CRB has recommendations for number and level of permanent items by level, but how do you actually select what these are?
It recommends that in place of 1st-level items, giving out mundane stuff including weapons & armour, so would that be things like giving a shortbow user a composite shortbow? Other than composite bows (and full plate, which is outside the 10–20 gp price range it lists anyway), won’t characters usually have started with all the mundane equipment they want?
What other options make sense to give low-level characters?
And as you level up to higher levels, are the bread-and-butter permanent items going to be runes for them to place on their weapons & armour? How do you decide what to give and how to balance the “necessary for balance” with “fun flavourful stuff”?
Adding onto this: do you hand out the loot in the adventure or adapt it with new stuff?
Usually I would swap out some existing loot for different but equivalent in level and power (roughly) to better fit the party in this case. Still leave normal loot in for the party to either figure out how to use or sell, but throw them a bone or two as needed.