"keep a set of new ones in the trunk and tools to change them."

Right on....And dont forget the rubber gloves, it makes a doable job out of it for the ladies in the family.

I realize that having to pull over and change a filter even with all the needed stuff could be a major PIA not to mention down right dangerous where allot of folks drive and changing them on a 30K schedule would be smart. When mine started to plug up it only "stumbled" slightly under a heavy load The primary filter hadn't shown and goobers floating around at my engine check prior to taking off or I woulda changed them both. I guess its just a matter of how good the fuel is you get and how dirty your tank is. When I changed the short rubber hoses on the tank the last drops of fuel were clean and showed no water. Anyway , like the Boy Scouts say "be prepaired"

Steve