How to apply a useful uniform to my human mercenaries?

Now that I can get mercenaries in my military as meat shields suicide a spearhead squad, I need them to be able to receive some blows and not die. That's fine for dorfs mercs, but if I assign the human ones to a squad that uses a uniform, they end up naked; they like it, but I don't.

So, I started hunting "large ---" items one by one to arm them, since I have tons of large armor already, but this is proving inefficient in the long run (and a pain in the short one). Is there an easier way to uniform them? I have armors of all kinds, because dwarfs have been at war with everyone from year 1.

TL;dr: I have tons armor (and can create more) but using the UI for uniforms in the military doesn't allow me to select these.

Solution 1:

Requirements:

1. Look if the item you want to equip has a ownership. You can forbid it for a while to release it and someone else can equip it. Even if nobody is wearing they don't wear equipment from others.

2. Mercenaries are just visitors when you accept them, and setting them to a squad you make them use that squad by default. If the armors you have as uniform aren't the same type of the ones in you collected they will go naked.

3. It may take a while to them change their equipment, but if any member of the squad stay naked you may need to issue and order to the squad to put them on duty, being on duty makes them wear the uniform.

From here you have a few paths to choose:

• Change the squad uniform to some type you have plenty Large for humans.

• Create another squad with one dwarf as leader that fits the itens you have already.

• Set the equipment for individual choice

• Or

  So, I started hunting "large ---" items ... Is there an easier way to uniform them?

  Do as @Timmy Jim said and set one of yours workshop to produce Large armor accordingly to your squad uniforms type.

Sources and Helpful links:

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Armor#Purpose

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/40d:Armor

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Squad#Equipping_Soldiers

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Mercenary

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164030.0

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=155577.0

https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/falu1/equipping_your_military/