Basics: Where is a reliable/quality/fair-priced source for filters? (M40)

[toddster]

The cost of filters seems high, especially within walking distance of moorages. And for a while, I was going through a lot of fuel filters. (IIRC, I bought every one in the store at Westport and Crescent City.) I feel the need to stock up every time I'm back at home base.

I find the usual on-line mega-markets have a lot of no-name knock-offs of my usual filters for half the price. I mean they look identical in color and labeling, except the brand name is left off. You might miss it if you just did a quick search and picked the best price.

So they raise my ire a bit with obviously deceptive marketing, but I really don't know about the quality. I'd be curious to know if anyone has experience with these. But how would we know if they're performing well or not? For all we know, they could be made by the same contractor, on the same factory line. But so far, I haven't felt it was worth the risk.
Examples:
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In the last month, I have gone down a rabbit hole of purchasing a duplicate Racor fuel filter setup. (Adding a second filter unit and 6-port valve so standby filter can be switched in at will. Have had too many experiences of fouled filters on approach to west coast bars. And so many wrecks involve "sudden loss of power...")
When it comes down to it, the $14 Asian knock-offs of the $140 housing are not suitable. Despite the Amazon adds, they use completely different thread sizes that are not compatible with either NPT or BST systems. (Chinese system combines the worst elements of both.) Had to bite the bullet and pay the boat-bux for Racor. Likewise, the cheaper no-name filters claim to have the same particle-size filtration (plausible), but lack the proprietary hydrophobic water-separating membranes found in the name-brand filters (maybe they have something else, but don't mention it? Or not.)

In the last few years I've been in too many situations where my life literally depended on the performance of these filters (due to stupidity of getting into such situations in the first place.) E.g. clawing off a lee shore and barrier reef in 40-knot wind. Maybe the no-names are fine, but I'm not gonna take the risk. Absent some evidence that they perform to spec.