Originally Posted by Alan@TreeFort

To each their own... however I use spoke prep not due to the protect against the possibilty of spokes backing out. You are definitely correct - for a properly built wheel with sufficient spoke tension, that will not be a problem.

The reason I like it is it works as a great dry, permanent lubricant (its not gooey when it actually comes to building the wheel, it dries on the spoke threads within a matter of minutes after applying). In my experience it allows for better truing at high tension with less binding between spoke and nipple. Also, it makes future adjustments a breeze, even years down the road.