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Synthesist summoner, shifter, and oracle come to mind as well. Heck, any summoner.
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The Esoteric, Iron-Ring Striker, and Mindblade Magi are never truly stripped of their gear.
Tack the Eschew Materials feat onto any of them, and you've got a character with mobility, some utility, and significant hitting power.
Shifters are basically full BAB Druids in this scenario, and have several archetypes that maximize their (unequipped) fighting abilities.
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Will the character be going against creatures with gear? Any full BAB class with proficiency with martial and simple weapons can take the weapons of their opponents and use them. Just because you start out with no weapons does not mean you have to stay that way.
The feat catch of guard allows you to use just about anything as a weapon without penalty.
Monk’s and brawlers do have some advantages without gear, but they are not completely free of the need for gear. Without gear their defenses are still lower and they rely just as much on things like belts, headbands as other characters.
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Occultist strikes me as particularly bad as they lost access to spells without their implements.
Wizard without a spellbook is fairly useless once they burn through their previously prepared spells...
Alchemist / Investigator likewise lose extracts without an alchemist's kit, but at least they have other class features of use...
Gunslinger without a gun is just a very bad idea.
Most Swashbuckler builds would be problematic at best without their weapon of choice.
Several Divine classes might be significantly hindered by a lack of a holy symbol.
Most other casting classes, pet classes, unarmed attack classes, and shifting classes would probably work just fine.
The other martial classes would probably be fairly build dependent.
The fact that some classes/builds are completely screwed by losing their gear is the reason this just doesn't happen in most campaigns...
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Both Gunslinger and Swashbuckler are full BAB with proficiency in martial and simple weapons.
Swashbucklers class abilities work with any light- or one-handed piercing weapon. That means they can use them with a lot of weapons including daggers and knives. Shivs and wooden stakes are probably the easiest improvised weapon to make and would qualify as a light piercing weapon. They usually use power attack for damage so will have at least a 13 STR and can still add damage to their attacks. About all a swashbuckler would really lose is weapon specific feats like weapon focus and specialization.
They also have a high DEX and can use ranged weapons. The fact most of their AC comes from DEX and nimble means they will usually not suffer as much from lack of armor as a martial class that relies on heavy armor.
So, unless they are not able to find or make any weapons they are probably about as effective as the brawler and monk. A swashbuckler with a knife and dagger can still add his level to damage if he has at least one panache point left.
Gunslingers are a different story. Most of their abilities are tied to firearms, but not all are. Like the swashbuckler they are a high DEX class with nimble, so their AC is still good. They can still use any ranged weapons they find, and their high DEX gives them a good chance to hit, but they will have trouble with damage. Some of their feats will be usable with other weapons. Both quickdraw and rapid shot are common for gunfighters so they can use them with thrown weapons. They may lose a lot, but they are not as bad as some classes.
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Agreed on all your points, Mysterious Stranger, but at the same time we're getting away from the central premise ("fight their way to freedom if fully stripped of gear") and creeping into "what if they got their hands on something along the way?" territory.
That's why I would offer that a line should be drawn between Swashbucklers, Gunslingers, but also any other class that doesn't rely on their actual person, or that isn't able to manifest weapons or suitable magic, and those that can. And from there, the next line should be between those classes that can do such things and those who can do so AND enjoy things like offensive (spontaneous) magic, bypassing damage reduction, enhanced damage, full BAB, etc.
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Well, as already mentioned, Monks and Brawlers have the best time of it without any gear at all. Shifters, Druids, and Barbarians (with certain rage powers) using natural weapons will also be pretty good. Paladins, Fighters, and other full BAB classes will be a little hampered without a way to do lethal damage (assuming of course that they aren't races without natural attacks) but won't be fully useless.
As for casters, prepared casters that require spellbooks are kinda screwed. Once they use up any previously prepared spells, they won't be able to prepare more. Other casters will depend on their class features, such as a Witch's hexes.
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As I mentioned the feat catch of guard allows you to use an improvised weapon without penalty. It also makes unarmed foes flatfooted vs you when you attack with an improvised weapon. Any martial with catch of guard and power attack should be good enough to fight their way out. Rogues will get even more benefit from this feat as it will allow them to use their sneak attack anytime, they are fighting an unarmed opponent. Even if you do not have catch of guard, you can still use improvised weapons with a -4 penalty to hit. That can be offset by a high STR and or BAB.
A single point in craft weapon is going to be enough to craft a simple weapon even without tools unless they have bought down their INT or have some other penalty besides not having tools. Many simple weapons do not cost anything so should be able to be made quickly. Clubs and wooden stake will probably be the easiest to make.
If the GM is running a gearless scenario, they should not be using challenging opponents with full gear. Any GM that does that is being a dick. So, even though the character might not be as efficient as normal, they should still be able to deal with the situation. The lesser damage and chance to hit should be offset somewhat by the fact the opponents having less AC and HP.
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I think I had like... 4ish prison escapes as a Bloodrager.
The only really hard one was from... well, my dude was disarmed more literally. (He got stuck in hell due to a prismatic spray from an enemy randomly yeeting him there, and his legal gambit of surrendering to get deported since he entered hell without a valid visa rather significantly failed).
He got better though, and ended up killing enough Erinyes to open an "infernal fried chicken" food carriage in Alyushinyrra after escaping Cania.
Traversing that place naked and without arms (as in the body part) was challenging, but it turns out that most transformation (fae form, monstrous physique) turn you into something with its full allottment of limbs.