That's my favorite backing to martensite in a sword. It literally cannot be beaten. Howard Clark is a genius.
My favorite 3 steels with a Spyderco are:
1. Hap-40 - somewhat stain resistant, and gets buttery-smooth edges that seem to bite nicely. It sharpens up quickly and easily, and maintains a working sharpness for a long time.
2. Super Blue - this only takes second because Hap-40 is more stain resistant, and I don't have to explain why patina isn't a problem to people when I use Hap-40. This one may be my favorite at-home steel, but pocket knives are what come with me to work and get shown to people. I do love Super Blue.
3. VG-10 This steel is just great all around. People poo-poo it because Spyderco made it commonplace, but it really is a among-the-best-of-most-worlds steel.
My favorite 3 to blacksmith with are:
1. 1095 - it moves nicely and takes a hamon. It's also easy to chemically modify the surface through claying to get neat effects.
2. W1 - It moves well under a hammer and takes a great heat treat that's relatively easy to perform. It's also easily available.
3. L6 - Howard Clark is a genius, and I'm trying to follow him around the nose of that TTT curve.