(Funnily enough ctrl-[ is one of my most used shortcuts in vim. It’s a convenient alternative to escape if you map caps-lock to ctrl)
setxkbmap -option caps:super
xcape -e 'Super_L=Escape'
inoremap jk <esc> inoremap <esc> <nop>not having chord like shortcuts was one of the main reasons that led me to try vim over emacs in the beginning, so I kind of think they're "anti" vim.
I switched back to vim+tmux (nvim) a few weeks ago from a number of years using vs-code with the vim keybindings.
I'm still trying to configure my plugins so that I don't feel like I'm repeating myself too often.
Pro Tip: Park the flesh of your left palm near the left ctrl key and use that instead of your pinky for ctrl. I admit this feels a bit weird at first but avoids the need to lift your fingers from the home row. Super bonus: use ^H for backspace. Try it out!
That gives a left handed option for escape without leaving the home row. I really like having mirrored shortcuts like that, thank you.
I'd be VERY interested to hear why that's wrong and what you do differently.
For example, if I want to insert a register into the ex mode command line I use ctr-r <register>.
Or if I want to pop out of insert mode for a single command I use ctr-o.
E.g. inserting opening and closing tags when a suitable plugin isn't present. Insert the opening and closing tag, jump back to command mode with ctrl-o, move backwards and you're ready to insert more text.