You've just invalidated your argument by implying you need to think 'hard' about it. I certainly don't have to think about it. The entire point is the make everything 100% muscle memory.

Every time a vim vs sublime article comes out, all the failed vim users who tried for 2 hours come out of the woodwork to comfort their own shortcomings on not following through with a tool that objectively blows away a single mode editor.

You can't deny it, it just cant be done. The one exception is if you're a slow typer. By typing close to 110wpm I can type /ex<cr>vi" even before your fat meat sticks reach the mouse, and I've already accomplished it, pasted it, and am moving it on while youre fighting with putting the cursor right between the e and the "