I was on the prepping threads in January/February, for the chat as much as the prepping advice tbh. But the prepping advice was invaluable as it turned out, because I ended up with a houseful of hungry growing lads wanting 3 square meals a day, as one by one their school, college and uni closed. I also turned out to have one who has needed to be shielded, but as we had a phone call instead of a letter originally, we didn't get any preferential treatment for supermarket deliveries until last week (finally!). As more understanding of the virus has emerged, it turns out that I'm also in a high risk category, so it was good that we hunkered down early on.
If it hadn't been for the prepping threads, we would really have struggled. As it was, we were well prepared and well stocked, despite being on a tight budget generally and a very, very tight budget at the time. We were able to sit tight without worrying about pasta or loo roll or paracetamol or prescription drugs or soap or any of those other things that people ended up panic buying or having to cope without.
I don't get the denial on these threads. It was strange enough in February, when the writing was pretty plainly on the wall, but now...? Why does anyone in their right mind still think it can't/won't happen to them? Why are people insisting we won't have another lockdown? What's the relevance of that if you personally have to self-isolate because you're ill or have been contacted by the TTI team? Particularly now the talk is of localised mini-lockdowns, what are you going to eat if your local area has been sealed off and you can't get to your usual supermarket or its stocks are dwindling?
But more than that, I don't get the hate. Even if you don't think it's a big deal or you think preppers are 'middle class SAHMs with pantries' 
...well, what's it to you? Don't join in with the prepping then, and don't join in with the thread. You seem to think your sneering makes you cleverer or more knowledgeable than the OP and those of us who agree with her, but in reality this rabid desire to argue and ridicule says more about your fears. It's as though you daren't acknowledge risk, danger or fear, as then it will be real and might feel overwhelming. It's like the social media equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and your tongue out, while humming loudly to block out anything a bit bad. I mean, grow the fuck up.
And don't even get me started on the ignorance. Anyone asserting stridently, like a pp, that 'China was the worst affected country and hasn't had a second wave or second lockdown' needs to do a bit more reading before they slag off anyone else's opinion. China is not even in the top ten and hasn't been for some time. The UK is second for deaths and fourth for infections. You don't have to be panicking to think a bit of planning ahead might be a good idea next time round.