"hand tightened the filter with both hands as hard as I can" is too tight.
There is no reason to have that much torque on the filter.

I've never experienced it, but have read of the old filter gasket sometimes staying stuck to the block. Then a poor soul installing a new filter not realizing that there are now 2 gaskets in place. And 2 doesn't mean it will seal twice as much!

Don't ever use an oil filter wrench to tighten a filter.

I think you may be squishing the gasket too much by over-tightening it.

I too am not questioning your mechanical skills. Maybe you've just been lucky so far.