Some parts of this are personal preference, others are specific to Mac OS X.

• First, install SublimeText.
• In SublimeText / Preferences / Color Scheme, choose Solarized Dark (or don't).
• Open the user preference file (SublimeText / Preferences / Settings — User), add a comma after the last preference before the closing brace, and paste all of this after the comma:

    // Don't exclude Vim.
    "ignored_packages": [
    // "Vintage"
    ],
    // Open files in normal mode, not insert mode.
    "vintage_start_in_command_mode": true,
    // Use the system clipboard for y and p.
    "vintage_use_clipboard": true,
    // Highlight the line containing the cursor.
    "highlight_line": true

• In the View menu, switch on the Status Bar. You can see which Vim mode you're in.
• For additional Vimness, open the user key bindings (SublimeText / Preferences / Key Bindings — User), and paste this between the brackets:

    // Delete the last word in insert mode: 
    { "keys": ["ctrl+w"], "command": "delete_word",
        "args": { "forward": false, "sub_words": true },
        "context":
        [
            { "key": "setting.command_mode", "operand": false },
            { "key": "setting.is_widget", "operand": false }
        ]
    },
    // Next/previous tab in normal mode: gt and gT
    { "keys": ["g", "t"], "command": "next_view",
        "context": [{"key": "setting.vintage_ctrl_keys"}, {"key": "setting.command_mode"}]
    },
    { "keys": ["g", "T"], "command": "prev_view",
        "context": [{"key": "setting.vintage_ctrl_keys"}, {"key": "setting.command_mode"}]
    }

• Install Package Control.
• Type Cmd+Shift+P to open the Command Palette, then use the Package Control: Install Package command. Install SublimeBlockCursor.
• To get normal key-repeating behavior instead of Lion's popups for accent marks, quit and relaunch SublimeText after running this at the Terminal:

    defaults write com.sublimetext.2 ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false