This is exactly my position too. I really like the concept of kakoune, but vim is everywhere.
I can install keybinds for it in any editor on the planet, there's at least a vi on any system I happen across, things like qutebrowser ships with vim bindings by default, etc. etc.
Vim really isn't everywhere, though, in any meaningful sense. I see this claim frequently, but if you're a Vim power user, using it as your primary IDE, the stock configuration is unusable. A fully-customized Vim setup bears very little resemblance to a vanilla/default Vim setup, and the default can't be used for anything more than quick, tiny changes.
Also, how often do you use a brand-new clean system without any extra software installed? You might regularly do this if you're a sysadmin/devops person, but in that case, you ought to be using Ansible or something to bootstrap the machine to a robust state, and that would include customizing Vim if you rely on it heavily. The "quick edit to system config files" use case for Vim is also not the same as the "software development environment" use case. You can get by with unconfigured Vim in this scenario, but it doesn't obviate the need for a complete configuration if you plan to do intense editing later.
The fallacy that "Vim is everywhere" is perpetuated by people who don't use Vim for software development.
I don't know. I think the stock vim is pretty good, and loads of power users tend more towards the 'no plugins' than the 'all the plugins' end of the spectrum.
I started with a much bigger load of plugins than I use now, and I don't think I'm unusual in that. The stock settings and workflows, once you understand them, are usually better. The only exception is really for frills - like, a plugin that helps with composing regexes, or language-specific IDE stuff, or a pretty documentation browser.
Not to mention, it's really very quick to get all your normal plugins set up. I have a git repo that I just clone.
I can install keybinds for it in any editor on the planet, there's at least a vi on any system I happen across, things like qutebrowser ships with vim bindings by default, etc. etc.