I use tmux rather than terminal tabs, but aside that I'm the same as you in that I never bother with vim plugins.
Though a large part of the reason is because I'm constantly switching between different servers so it's one less config I need to synchronise (and being reliant on plugins that aren't present on half the systems you manage quickly becomes less productive than never using those plugins to begin with).
Though a large part of the reason is because I'm constantly switching between different servers so it's one less config I need to synchronise (and being reliant on plugins that aren't present on half the systems you manage quickly becomes less productive than never using those plugins to begin with).