I, too, wondered about $ and ^ - they are rather inconvenient to type. But instead of B and E, why not map <Space> as leader, then have <Leader>b and <Leader>e?

I, too, wondered about $ and ^ - they are rather inconvenient to type. But instead of B and E, why not map <Space> as leader, then have <Leader>b and <Leader>e? Space seems like the perfect leader key. Mapping , means you lose prev-finding for some searches (f).