diff --git a/darc/archiver.py b/darc/archiver.py
index 89126342b..1d571e42a 100644
--- a/darc/archiver.py
+++ b/darc/archiver.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from .cache import Cache
 from .keychain import Keychain
 from .helpers import location_validator, format_file_size, format_time,\
-    format_file_mode, walk_dir, IncludePattern, ExcludePattern, exclude_path
+    format_file_mode, walk_path, IncludePattern, ExcludePattern, exclude_path
 
 
 class Archiver(object):
@@ -53,8 +53,22 @@ def do_create(self, args):
             return self.exit_code
         archive = Archive(store, keychain)
         cache = Cache(store, keychain)
+        # Add darc cache dir to inode_skip list
+        skip_inodes = []
+        try:
+            st = os.stat(Cache.cache_dir_path())
+            skip_inodes.append((st.st_ino, st.st_dev))
+        except IOError:
+            pass
+        # Add local store dir to inode_skip list
+        if not args.archive.host:
+            try:
+                st = os.stat(args.archive.path)
+                skip_inodes.append((st.st_ino, st.st_dev))
+            except IOError:
+                pass
         for path in args.paths:
-            for path, st in walk_dir(unicode(path)):
+            for path, st in walk_path(unicode(path)):
                 if exclude_path(path, args.patterns):
                     continue
                 self.print_verbose(path)
diff --git a/darc/cache.py b/darc/cache.py
index 8fe0825c9..acd02da18 100644
--- a/darc/cache.py
+++ b/darc/cache.py
@@ -11,13 +11,18 @@ class Cache(object):
     def __init__(self, store, keychain):
         self.store = store
         self.keychain = keychain
-        self.path = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), '.darc', 'cache',
+        self.path = os.path.join(Cache.cache_dir_path(),
                                  '%s.cache' % self.store.id.encode('hex'))
         self.tid = -1
         self.open()
         if self.tid != self.store.tid:
             self.init()
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def cache_dir_path():
+        """Return path to directory used for storing users cache files"""
+        return os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), '.darc', 'cache')
+
     def open(self):
         if not os.path.exists(self.path):
             return
diff --git a/darc/helpers.py b/darc/helpers.py
index 676d79a0d..c4bb499b3 100644
--- a/darc/helpers.py
+++ b/darc/helpers.py
@@ -8,6 +8,29 @@
 import stat
 
 
+def encode_long(v):
+    bytes = []
+    while True:
+        if v > 0x7f:
+            bytes.append(0x80 | (v % 0x80))
+            v >>= 7
+        else:
+            bytes.append(v)
+            return ''.join(chr(x) for x in bytes)
+
+
+def decode_long(bytes):
+    v = 0
+    base = 0
+    for x in bytes:
+        b = ord(x)
+        if b & 0x80:
+            v += (b & 0x7f) << base
+            base += 7
+        else:
+            return v + (b << base)
+
+
 def zero_pad(data, length):
     """Make sure data is `length` bytes long by prepending zero bytes
 
@@ -63,12 +86,14 @@ class ExcludePattern(IncludePattern):
     """
 
 
-def walk_dir(path):
+def walk_path(path, skip_inodes=None):
     st = os.lstat(path)
+    if skip_inodes and (st.st_ino, st.st_dev) in skip_inodes:
+        return
     yield path, st
     if stat.S_ISDIR(st.st_mode):
         for f in os.listdir(path):
-            for x in walk_dir(os.path.join(path, f)):
+            for x in walk_path(os.path.join(path, f), skip_inodes):
                 yield x