LONGBOARDS

Some brands you might want to look into based on my experience:

sector 9

landyachtz

bustin

Loaded <----- Pricey, but honestly the best boards around.

And also a lesser known brand which I absolutely love is BC Longboards:

check them out at bclongboards.com, they have high quality decks comparable to loaded boards but with a more manageable price tag.

Some trucks, doesnt matter most trucks are pretty good I prefer Paris 180's though. Wheels again theres all difference types for all different sorts of riding styles but I prefer orangatang wheels.

Longer and heavier boards are better for going high speeds down gnarly hills, while shorter more flexible boards are better for commuting/freestyle.

Landyachtz makes some tight boards and are worth the pay but in my opinion if you are willing to invest, buy a never summer. They have a 3 year warranty and are soo much fun to slide on. I am riding on landyachtz's smaller company, Bears trucks and they are a blast to ride on.

Get a rayne nemesis/Landyachtz 9-2-5, time machine, switch, or switchblade/Omen Pike/comet FSM/Earthwing supermodel.

Its very smart to invest in a good board so if you decide to spend more, get what i ride, its fantastic.

Rayne killswitch top mount

Caliber 44's/bear grizzleys (trucks)
Landyachtz zombie hawgz for freeride/moderate downhill (whatever durometer "a" pertains to your weight class)

Cult dominators Dh/moderate freeride

Landyachtz mini monsters-strictly Dh
Bearings whatever you feel like spending, i ride bones swiss ceramics because i won them, but i would recomend bones super reds-much better than reds, worth every penny.

while your at it, pick up a pair of sliding gloves (loadeds are the best)
And make sure to promote good longboard etiquette by always wearing a helmet, you wont regret it man.

Good luck!!
Im always happy to help, feel free to PM me with any longboard questions!

Again like I said it all depends on what you do!

I do much more free riding/commuting to and around my campus. My board of choice is the BC moray but I absolutely love loaded, I've riden the dervish, tan-tien, banghara, and fat tail and there all sick for my kind of riding, the boards are light weight, have an awesoem flex, and the camber locks your feet in for slides amazingly. I will give you guys that loaded probably dont make the best downhill boards but thats because thats not what loaded is about. If the OP is looking to do just downhill then yeah stay away from loaded, but if hes looking to do some sweet slides, maybe some shove-its, dancing and other free style tricks, loaded and BC boards are easily at the top of my list.

And actually for downhill the banghara is freaking awesome! its a huge heavy weight board thats not as flexy and but has a sick profile and camber.

But I will say if your only looking to spend $200 then yeah your probably not gonna be looking in the direction of loaded.

And the boards I claimed to look into are by companies I have experienced riding, I'm sure there are other good companies out there but I'm not gonna tell you to look into them if I myself have never even riden one.

/End kind of a rant