Manual vs. Automatic transmissions?

I love manual transmissions. every car i have owned except for one has had a manual. it used to be that manuals would last longer. were stronger and More durable. is that still the case or has modern technology closed that gap? the one and only automatic i ever owned was 1990 tans.. i burned it up 7 times in less then a year. i would hope today's modern transmissions are better designed. But i still don't know if i trust them enough to invest in one. i am only interested in them because of My crawler. i own a crawler i built out of a jeep. and the manual transmission can be very bersome when you are rock crawling. i am just getting More curious about Modern automatics. if they can take the abuse i am putting My manual through. if so i may invest in one. But if not then i don't want to take the chance.