Please dont overestimate the importance of that body part. It's a joystick but not a vital organ.
Not very many or very many popular 14500's exist on the market. Take as reference the selection of HKE; HKE is the "largest" flashlight specialist in the East and never sells fakes. I dont know AW IMR. MixoMaxo left some funny comments in the 14500 TF judgement call thread. I will assume that the TF 14500 flames are the most often sold 14500's on the market; fakes exist so beware.
bestvaping.net sell the popular and well regarded ‘bestinone’ IMR 14500s for $3.50 a pair plus shipping. Though at $7 a pair from bestinone that may be a better deal for just 2.
I just picked up 4x Ultrafire 14500s from an ebay seller for $6 but they could be rubbish, just seemed a good deal.
I think the best out there right now are the intl-outdoor 840mah protected ones which are based on the Sanyo cell and I believe have a high quality SEIKO PCM added by keeppower. They will set you back $16 a pair though.
You must be paranoid, only 6 or 7 of the 21 posts are directed at you. Anyway, I’m very interested in this thread since ordering the 14500 only Trustfire Z8.