Tkb Review: 2022 DUOTONE Dice SLS

Sizes Available: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13m
Sizes Tested: 8m, 10m

Duotone Says:

The Dice has been a tricks and megaloops champion for a long time now, designed to excel at big air and perform to the highest standards in freestyle and even waves; it boasts an army of fans worldwide. New for 2022, the Dice gets the Strong Light Superior makeover and a complete redesign to improve the performance. The new Penta TX frame construction combined with the Trinity TX canopy has created a Dice like no other. The weight has been even further reduced, making the kite far more responsive in the air and increasing the overall wind range. This loss of weight has also increased the kite’s flying qualities, making mega loops smooth and on the way back up, the Dice SLS never gets stuck, in the waves you directly feel the increased drift. The kite jumps higher, hangs in the air for longer, and the mega loops have even more control! The team also tweaked the kites unhooked performance too, fine-tuning the power release after you pop, to allow you to get even more tricks on the scoreboard.

This quiver killer kite can trade blows with the Vegas, while pulling jumps and loops big enough to win the King of the Air. It isn’t often that a leap forwards in performance like this comes along. If getting bigger jumps, landing more complex tricks and even smashing some waves gets you excited for a session, you will need the Dice SLS in your quiver.

Visit for more info: www.duotonesports.com/kiteboarding/kites/dice-sls/

TKB Says:

With the advantage of testing all the Duotone kites in SLS trim this year, we got to experience the Dice at its best with the improvements in material stiffness and the weight savings that come from the Penta TX material. As in years past, the Dice continues to balance the needs of the kiter who mixes casual freeride with waveriding, and also those of kiteloop lovers and unhooked freestylers. The Dice is one of the most versatile kites in the Duotone lineup, and with the blend of new materials, it steps up in almost every dimension.

Inflation Valve: Airport nozzle required
Attachments: Center bridle: Knot / Wingtip bridle: Lark’s head loop
Centerline Split: High-V
Front Bridle Options: Single setting fixed bridle / no pulleys

Design and Features
The Dice is a three-strut platform with a subtle C-shaped arc that combines leading-edge sweep with semi-boxy wingtips for an incredibly nimble and crisp feel with good pulling power. The strut and leading edge diameters are a little bit thicker than the Rebel and Evo, with its positioning geared towards flying more comfortably in the center of the window. The Dice pumps up with Duotone’s large diameter inflation valve dubbed the ”˜Max Flow’ system which connects directly with Duotone’s pump hose without the use of a nozzle; the inflation system’s twist valve rotates with the insertion of the hose to keep air locked in the kite. Deflation can happen through both the inflation valve and a dump valve on one side of the kite, making both inflation and deflation quick and easy.

The Dice features a single-setting fixed front bridle that doesn’t use any pulleys or sliders to change its angle of attack. The front bridle attachment points end in a knot and the wingtip attachment pigtails end in lark’s head loops. The bridling on the Dice uses a noticeably thin diameter bridle material for lowered windage and weight and the wingtip offers three attachment points for riders to tune between a ”˜soft, medium and hard’ setting, with the stock mode arriving on ”˜Medium.’ The trailing edge uses six battens along the trailing edge with a heavier ripstop to fortify the leach during more aggressive riding.

Impressions
Because the Dice is geared to crossover into wave and unhooked freestyle, it doesn’t have quite the explosive lift and acceleration as the Evo/Rebel, but instead prefers to hang a little deeper in the window, offering power on demand. The bar pressure on the Dice feels light to medium on the ”˜soft’ setting which gives you the crisp steering response, most progressive power delivery along the bar’s throw and faster turning. For unhooked freestyle, shifting to the ”˜hard’ wingtip setting slows the kite’s steering for better unsent freestyle tricks, offering more slack after your board’s load and pop. In terms of kiteloops, the harder setting also broadens the steering arc for more power and yank during the loop.

When it comes to jumping, the Dice put smiles on our testers faces due to its tighter turning arc and crisp steering response. With solid power in its vertical thrust when properly powered, the Dice can earn impressive heights, but it doesn’t quite seem to have the explosive bursts of punching power that you get with the Evo and the Rebel. On the flip side, the big air take-off feels more user-friendly and mid-air positioning is more intuitive and easy to manage for softer landings and perhaps easier initiation if a rider is experimenting with kiteloops. At the same time, the Dice continues to work for freestyle riding with its unhooked tuning and good load and slack power that doesn’t continue to pull the bar out of your hand on unhooked raleys. Since the Dice feels more reliable in its pulling power, this kite is a good candidate for crossover into surf with precision steering and strong drifting skills that allow you to keep the Dice deeper in the window and lined up with waves.

Longtime Dice riders will recognize the SLS improvements in the Dice’s faster turning, accentuating both the kite’s placement in the waves and the airframe’s recovery up-stroke on kiteloops. The drift is a notch better with the reduction in weight and the stiffer airframe feels as if it can handle more high-end power without wingtip flare or airframe distortion on aggressive riding, all which lead to more confidence when you are pushing your limits. For the rider that mixes surf with freeride or freestyle laced with kiteloops, the Dice is an incredibly stable and reliable platform that will let you push yourself as far as you want to go in an impressively diverse number of directions.

We rode the Dice SLS with Click Bar. Read the review here.