I often wonder how counter-strike became so popular when it had no respawns at all, while some people here struggle waiting a whole minute.
KnacK: I think items are set to respawn relative to the elim setting (with a minimum of 5-10 seconds and a max of 60-70). It's been years since I've looked at that code, though, so I don't remember for certain.
On a map like propaint with the spawn rooms, you might be spawning in a different room than your equipment did, so you're stuck waiting for somebody else's to spawn.