In this section we briefly review some of the experiments performed with granular materials which come to rest (in a metastable equilibrium) for a variable fraction of the whole experimental time. The study of internal stresses in grain silos requires that the material is always at rest. The study of compaction requires some form of periodic excitation (i.e. tapping from the bottom) and subsequent rest. The study of sandpiles, finally, can be performed in almost continuously driven granular materials, but the definition of avalanche requires a (possibly very brief) interruption of the flow.