That's a good point. I recall Les Stroud has a discussion about this in his book Survive; the benefits & trade offs of gear made with newer technical materials over more traditional ones. The latter definitely wins in the durability department.

That said, I have a pair of Exofficio outdoors pants that are a cotton / synthetic blend with a DWR coating that are perhaps a bit of a compromise. Kuhl is another brand of outdoor pants I've looked at that seem to have a good range of cotton, cotton blend and synthetic options that might be worth checking out.