Yeah, considering that classes receive a majority of their HP from vit on gear, this is only going to be more of a problem in the future if it isn't addressed now. The hp gap is going to continue widening with ilevel increases.

In 2.0, level 50 combat classes (ilevel 55) had about double the HP of a gathering class. Now an ilevel 160 player has 5 times the HP of a level 60 gathering class.

Taking this to the logical next step, 4.0 starting area enemies will probably be hitting level 60 players for 2k damage. That will one-hit kill any level 60 gatherer.

The objective isn't to make a gatherer able to fight, but rather, to give them relatively the same survivability as in 2.0. You should have enough HP to survive one or two quick attacks from something that has surprised you. Fates spawn on gathering nodes, dead enemies respawn suddenly, and even AOEs from unrelated players can ruin your day in an instant. Just think how many times that Basilisk in North Thanalan would have killed you if each strike had been instant death. By Halone's bosom, I hated that Basilisk.